Search & Rescue
by whereverwithyou
Summary: The third part to my trilogy, sequel to Mental Health Day. With almost everything she cares about taken away from her, Angie has no choice but to start hunting again.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: That's right, I'm not dead! My computer's lately been deciding to crash every three days, so that's why I haven't gotten the chance to do anything. It seems to finally be working again however, so here's the third part of my trilogy!

What you should know...

It's many years after the last story took place, probably about a decade. In that time, Dean and Angie have gotten married and have a son, Jake. Sam has also gotten married, to Sarah from season one.

Although they still hunt, their lives have become a little less centered around it. The yellow-eyed demon has been taken care of, and now most hunters have started "talking" to each other about various jobs they've heard about. Through this sort of network, certain people can decide if they're available to investigate things, leaving everyone else free. It's proven to be a very efficient system, even creating a hunters' web network. (yeah I know, it sounds weird, but just go with it for now, okay?)

Search & Rescue

CHAPTER ONE

Angie dried her hands as she finished putting the last of the dishes away.

"Mommy, mommy!" Jake ran in, a wild look of excitement in his eyes.

Angie smiled and turned around. "What is it, honey?"

"I found something!" the boy said happily. He grabbed Angie by the hand. "C'mon, mommy, you have to see!"

Jake ran out of the house and through the backyard as fast as his little feet would let him go.

"You weren't digging anywhere, were you?" Angie asked. "Because I told you not to do that…"

"No, mommy!" Jake said in a tone that suggested he was rolling his eyes, as if it was silly to think that he would ever do such a thing. "It's in here." He stopped running as they approached the garage.

Jake opened the door and led Angie through, finally letting go of her hand when they were both inside. "I found a car!"

Angie smiled as she watched her son admire the Impala. "That was your daddy's car," she explained.

"What's it doing back here?" Jake asked.

"It's been here for a while. This is just the first time I've forgotten to lock the door so a certain snoopy little boy could get in," Angie answered.

Jake smiled, but didn't laugh at the joke. He had a look of strong determination in his eyes. "How did daddy die?" he asked.

A/N: It's not what you think, I swear! Just stay tuned and you'll see. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I was worried that after all this time, no one would want to read my stories anymore! So, thanks for sticking around!

If anyone's sensitive about school shootings, you might not want to read some parts of this chapter. The song used is "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats.

CHAPTER TWO

The smile receded a bit from Angie's face. "I told you already, Jake. What he did was dangerous," she said.

"You've told me that a gazillion times!" Jake complained. "I wanna know what happened!"

"Sweetie, I don't think you're old enough."

"Aw, c'mon, I'm seven now!" Jake protested. "Just tell me!"

Angie sighed. As much as she wanted to keep her son sheltered from such a harsh thing and let him live as normal a life as possible, she was also getting tired of hiding secrets from him.

Angie brushed the dust from a chair and sat down. "Alright," she agreed, taking a deep breath. "There was a school shooting, up in Salinas…"

_FLASHBACK_

An ordinary, peaceful, uneventful day of school was forever altered as a girl burst into the classroom. Everyone stared, wondering who she was and what she wanted.

_The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload_

_And nobody's gonna go to school today_

_She's gonna make them stay at home_

_And daddy doesn't understand it_

_He always said she was good as gold_

_And he can see no reasons_

'_Cause there are no reasons_

_What reasons do you need to be shown?_

Before anyone could react, the girl whipped out a pistol and took her first victim. All of the students screamed as the shot rang out and everyone scrambled to escape. For some, however, it was useless. The girl fired seven more shots before ducking back out into the hallway to reload and move on to another classroom.

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_I wanna shoot the whole day down_

She opened fire on another unsuspecting class, not even flinching as each body fell to the floor. As she reloaded and moved on once again, she heard a voice over the intercom telling people that the school was in code blue, and everyone should assume lockdown procedure. That wasn't going to stop her.

_The telex machine is kept so clean_

_And it types to a waiting world_

_A mother feels so shocked_

_Father's world is rocked_

_And their thoughts turn to their own little girl_

_Sweet sixteen, ain't that peachy keen?_

_Well it ain't so neat to admit defeat_

_And they can see no reasons_

'_Cause there are no reasons_

_What reasons do you need?_

Not willing to give up her fight just yet, the girl rushed towards the last open door and grabbed the knob just as it was starting to close. She wrenched it open, stepped inside, and locked it behind her. Everyone inside cowered in fear. A maniacal grin spread across the girl's face.

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_I wanna shoot the whole day down_

_Down, down, shoot it all down_

In a last effort to save the students trapped in the room, a teacher lunged at the girl. She shot him before he even came within an arm's reach. All the students screamed as their protector slumped to the floor.

_And the playing's stopped in the playground now_

_She wants to play with her toys a while_

_And school's out early_

_And soon we'll be learning_

_And the lesson today is how to die_

Ruthlessly, the girl picked off the children in the room, one by one. They were so scared that she didn't even have to reload quickly- no one dared move a muscle.

_And then the bullhorn crackles_

_And the captains tackles_

_With the problems and the hows and whys_

_And he can see no reasons_

'_Cause there are no reasons_

_What reasons do you need to die?_

Flashing lights began to appear through the blinds of the classroom windows, and sirens started to wail. A voice on a megaphone shouted that police officers were moving in, and to surrender immediately. The girl looked at her gun. There was one bullet left, and two children still trembling with fear in front of her.

_And the silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload_

_Oh, and nobody's gonna go to school today_

_She's gonna make them stay at home_

_And daddy doesn't understand it_

_He always said she was good as gold_

_And he can see no reasons_

'_Cause there are no reasons_

_What reasons do you need to be shown?_

As two SWAT team officers burst into the classroom, the girl grinned and turned the gun on herself. She uttered her last words in Latin before pulling the trigger and collapsing into a pool of blood.

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_(Tell me why)_

_I don't like Mondays_

_I wanna shoot_

_The…_

_Whole…_

_Day…_

_Down._

_PRESENT DAY_

"Your uncle Sam heard about it on the radio," Angie explained. "He knew that what the girl said was something about the devil… but even more, he also thought he heard EVP on the report. …You know what EVP is, right?"

"Electronic Voice Phenomenon," Jake answered in a way that sounded like he'd been quizzed on this a hundred times before. "Basically the voice of a ghost or something like it."

Angie smiled, amazed at her young son's knowledge. "Daddy sure did teach you well. Anyway, since it was close enough, uncle Sam figured he and your daddy could investigate themselves, rather than get someone else to."

_FLASHBACK_

Dean and Sam arrived to find a scene of mayhem, panic, and distress. Ambulances were being loaded, tears were being shed, news reporters were racing to get the best story, sirens were flashing, and the wounded were groaning… all in all, it was a gruesome sight.

"It looks like a war was fought here," Sam remarked.

"Well one basically was," Dean commented. "But it sure as hell wasn't a fair fight."

Sam nodded. "So the question now is, where do we start?"

"Well since police officers seem to hate us, my guess would be with the witnesses."

They scanned the crowd and spotted a teenage boy standing behind the police barricades. Though he too was staring at the school, he didn't have the same destitute expression as everyone else. In fact, it was almost as if he bore no expression at all.

"How about him? He looks creepy enough," Dean suggested with a smirk.

They walked over and stood next to the boy. "What a loss," Sam said casually. "All those people."

"She did what she had to do," the boy commented.

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"Julia," the kid clarified. "You know, the girl who just shot up this place."

"Oh. I didn't know her name," Dean said. He cleared his throat. "What do you mean, 'she did what she had to do?'"

"It was part of her duty to the plan," the kid said. He turned to face Sam and Dean with a piercing, almost evil stare in his eyes. "We all have our obligations to it."

"What plan?" Sam asked.

"I can't inform any outsiders," the kid replied.

"Pretty please?" Dean asked sarcastically. "We won't tell." Sam eyed him, knowing that technique wasn't going to work.

"Members only," the kid enforced.

"Well then, how do we become members?" Sam asked. Now it was Dean's turn to eye his brother.

"The same way everyone else did."

"How's that?" Dean asked, getting impatient with the kid's vague answers. "What is it, an after-school club? Do I have to put you in my Top 8?"

"Again with the sarcasm," the kid said. "I doubt the Dark Lord would want to use such childish methods."

"The Dark Lord?" Sam asked.

"Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub… whatever you prefer calling him."

"What the hell are you guys members of?" Sam asked.

"I guess you could call it the Devil's Advocates."

Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Right… and the devil told Julia to shoot innocent children?"

"He needs sacrifices if he's going to rise again," the kid said apathetically.

"You're trying to bring the Devil up out of hell?" Sam asked.

"Not trying. We _will_," the kid proclaimed.

"If you're supposed to keep all that a secret, then why did you just tell us everything?" Dean asked.

"I have a feeling about you guys," the kid said. "You're going to play a role in this."

Sam wondered what he really meant by the statement. He was either clairvoyant, foolish, or knew who they really were.

"We're meeting tonight," the kid informed. "In the basement of the old St. Margaret's Church. 6:00." He walked away.

"That little army of theirs sounds so tempting," Dean said. "But I'm afraid I'm already enlisted in something else."

Sam looked at his brother quizzically. "What would that be?"

Dean grinned. "The KISS Army."

A/N: Yeah I know the name "Devil's Advocates" is kind of dumb, but that's the point. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This is a bit of a filler chapter here, but don't worry, the plot picks up again soon.

Just want to clarify a bit: Angie isn't telling Jake _every _detail of what's going on in these flashbacks. She's only telling what's necessary to tell him, but since they're flashbacks, the audience is getting to see everything. ;)

CHAPTER THREE

"We're gonna have to go to that meeting," Sam reminded as he and his brother walked away from the crime scene and headed back to the Impala.

"Winchesters vs. Satan… wonder how this one's gonna go?" Dean asked, smirking.

"How can you joke about it?" Sam asked. "If that kid was telling the truth, then we've never gone against anything this powerful before. Maybe we should ask for backup."

"You wimp," Dean joked. "We can't get anyone else involved yet. This kid's expecting us only, remember?"

"I guess," Sam agreed. He looked back at the school. "Isn't it amazing, how out of all that chaos, we somehow managed to find exactly the right person to talk to?"

"I never thought about it," Dean replied.

"We've gotta be the luckiest guys alive."

"I'm not lucky. I'm good." Dean opened the door of his car and hopped in. As Sam was getting in, Dean took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Angie asked as she picked up.

"Hey babe," Dean replied. "Listen, I don't think I'm gonna be getting back home until tomorrow. At least."

"Okay," Angie answered. "More complicated then you thought it would be, huh?"

"Yeah…" Dean started. "So, you're not upset about me not being home tonight?"

"I know how it works, Dean," Angie reminded. "And I'm not one of those Stepford Wives who need their husbands home all the time…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you'd kill yourself if you ever became a housewife…" Dean recited, obviously having heard this speech before. In fact, since Angie had a higher level of education than he did, Dean was closer to being a stay-at-home parent than she was.

"Hey, are you really busy right now, or do you have some time?" Angie asked.

"I've got time. Why?"

"Jake just got home. This carpool thing with the Markeses is working out better than I'd thought it would," Angie said. "Anyway, you know how he loves to tell you about his day. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Of course! Put him on," Dean insisted.

Soon, he heard a little voice on the other end of the line. "Hi daddy!" it said.

"Hey, Buddy! What did you do in school today?"

----------------------------------

"You know, that's got to be a record-length phone conversation," Sam observed as Dean finally hung up.

"Well excuse me for wanting to play a slightly bigger role in my son's life than dad did in ours," Dean asserted.

"I'm not complaining," Sam clarified. "It was actually a good way to pass the time until we have to go meet those devil warriors or whatever they are. You talked to your son, I beat my high score on cell phone tetris…"

"Sorry you were bored," Dean apologized.

Sam shrugged. "Not your fault. Kids talk. Hey, I'm gonna be doing the same thing once I'm a dad anyway."

Dean turned to him. "Are you and Sarah…"

"She's not pregnant _yet_…" Sam clarified. "But we're definitely thinking about it."

"Go ahead," Dean nodded. "You two have almost as much history as me and Angie."

"Angie and I," Sam corrected.

"Shut up. I've already got her doing that to me. Anyway, you and Sarah are gonna be together for a long time."

"You really think so?"

"Sure. Plus, it _was_ my wedding that brought you guys together…" Dean reminded with a smirk.

Sam, not having anyone to accompany him to Dean and Angie's big day, had called Sarah and talked to her for the first time in years. And in Dean's slightly sarcastic words, they never really stopped.

"You two are in the perfect situation for kids," Dean said. "…And as you've probably learned from me, timing is everything."

"Dean, do you still… think about Angie's abortion?" Sam asked hesitantly, not sure what feelings he was touching on.

"Of course I do," Dean answered. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Jake had an older sibling… But, you can't change the past. Just learn from it."

"That's very wise, Dean…" Sam said. "You didn't think of it, did you?"

"Nope," Dean laughed. "It's Angie's line. Anyway, we all know that it just wasn't right when Angie got pregnant that first time. I honestly don't know what we would've done, except for being completely beside ourselves. But you and Sarah… you guys'll be great. Way better than that step-by-step learning process Angie and I lived by."

"I remember those days," Sam said with a mischievous laugh. Both of them knew he was thinking about the hilarious scene that had arisen from the first time Dean attempted to change a diaper.

"I can't believe you taped that…" Dean shook his head. "You did get rid of it, right?"

"Maybe I did…" Sam smirked. "…and maybe there's just one copy of it left that I mailed into America's Funniest Videos."

"You didn't," Dean hoped desperately.

"No," Sam admitted. "Relax, it's in my house… somewhere."

"So you didn't destroy it like I told you to?"

"Of course not! How could I get rid of something so priceless?"

"Sam, where's that tape?" Dean demanded.

"Honestly, I don't know. You know how messy all of our stuff is," Sam reminded. "Clutter's what you get when you marry an auctioneer, I guess."

"No problem. Angie's an organization freak. Come Thanksgiving, she'll probably find the tape and give you guys an alphabetized video library to boot all before the turkey's done."

Sam laughed. "How the hell do our wives get along, anyway, when they're completely opposite on things like that?"

"Couldn't tell you…" Dean replied. He looked at the car's clock. "What do you say we go get something to eat and then head down to that church for some demon ass-kicking?"

"Let's do it," Sam agreed. Dean started the car.

A/N: Hope that wasn't too sappy for y'all. :P Hopefully it won't be too long before I get the next chapter up here. I have to write my essay for National Honors Society this weekend, so I guess it depends on how well that goes...


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey everyone. Procrastination-fueled chapter here. Since Easter break's early this year, our teachers didn't notice the marking period was almost over and decided to compensate by all give us projects now.

The song used is "Dream On" by Aerosmith.

Thanks for all the reviews so far, please keep it up!

CHAPTER FOUR

Dean pulled the Impala over to the side of the road and turned it off. "Okay, so heads we're on a wild goose chase, and tails it's all real and we're screwed," he said, holding a quarter in his hand.

"Please don't flip that coin," Sam said as he got out of the car and started up towards the church. He obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes right now.

They walked inside, and instantly came face-to-face with a sinister-looking young woman. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" she demanded.

Sam wasn't sure what exactly he should reveal. Just then, the same kid who had invited them appeared from around the corner of the hallway. "Uh, he told us to come."

The woman looked over. "Toby? Are they telling the truth?" The kid nodded, and the woman gave an evil grin. "In that case, welcome." She motioned for them to follow her, and led them downstairs to the basement.

Once they made it to the bottom of the stairs, they found at least twenty pairs of eyes staring at them from spots on the concrete floor.

"New members," the woman who had led them downstairs announced to everyone. Not surprisingly, there were no hellos or friendly waves. Dean and Sam found an empty spot in the corner and sat down.

"So, a church, eh?" Dean observed. "Funny place to conjure the devil." Sam stared at him, barely keeping his eyes from getting wide. His plan was to just listen to what these people were up to and not cause any trouble, but it seemed that Dean didn't share his ideas.

"Well, Lucifer was originally an angel," a man reminded them.

"And if we can conjure Him on hallowed ground, He'll have immediate control. We'll be unstoppable," a woman added.

"We'll?" Sam asked. Keeping quiet was pretty much not a concern anymore.

"He will give positions of authority to those who help him rise up," another person defended.

"Sure about that?" Dean asked. Everyone's heads instantly whipped around to face him. "Well, I mean… y'know, evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "_Spaceballs?_" he whispered incredulously. Dean just shrugged in an 'it was all I could think of!' gesture.

"What the hell makes you so qualified to join us, anyway?" someone asked. "It doesn't seem like you know anything as to what we're all about."

"I was just suggesting that he might be using you," Dean said. Sam resisted the urge to use his hand either to cover his brother's mouth or bury his head in it. This wasn't going well. "You never know," Dean continued.

"He would not turn His back on us," the woman who'd led them in asserted. She'd stood up and was now standing in front of everyone, as if she'd placed herself on a stage. "In fact, just for you, I'll ask."

"What?" Dean asked.

"We don't have enough power to summon Him yet," the woman explained, "but with one more sacrifice, we can call one of His subjects; a lesser demon." She pulled out an athame and scanned the room. "Andrew," she called. A young man stood up and walked over to her. "You have served your Lord well, and now it is time to give yourself up completely for Him. Are you willing?"

"Yes, Fay," Andrew replied without hesitation. There was not even the smallest trace of fear visible on his face, nor on the faces of anyone else in the room- save Sam and Dean, of course, who were watching the whole thing wide-eyed.

"Very good," Fay replied. She held the athame up and began to mutter in Latin- the same words the girl from the school incident had said. As soon as she was finished, Fay slit Andrew's throat with one quick motion of her hand. He fell to the floor, bleeding profusely, but no one seemed phased. Instead, the entire room began to chant. Suddenly, a wind began to generate from nowhere. In the center of the room, a man appeared… though it was obvious to more than instinct that he wasn't ordinary. It may have just been a nervous illusion, but incredibly, the evil writhing within this person seemed visible.

"We have questions for the Master," Fay said officially, not even offering a greeting to the creature. "We have two new members who would like to make sure our Lord will not turn on us once He is risen."

"The Dark Lord has given his solemn promise to reward those who aid him in his domination," the creature informed.

"_The Devil's word?_" Dean whispered to Sam incredulously. "You have got to be kidd-" But his sentence stopped abruptly upon receiving a sharp blow to the rib cage from Sam's elbow.

"You see?" Fay said, turning to Sam and Dean. She looked back at the minion she had been talking to. "We would also like to know how close we are in terms of sacrificed souls."

"The incident in the school helped tremendously," the creature informed. "It is time for your final plan."

"Yes, sir," Fay nodded. "Tomorrow night, in this very place… it will happen."

"Fay, I trust you to make sure everything goes well," the creature warned.

"I will not fail you," Fay promised as the minion disappeared. She turned to face the room. "You heard me," she started. "See you all tomorrow night."

And with that strange parting, everyone began to file out. Sam and Dean were still bewildered, and tried to sort out everything they'd just seen.

"Wait, Toby," Sam said, grabbing the kid's coat before he got the chance to leave. "What's going on tomorrow? What's the plan?"

"I'm not sure if newcomers like you should be trusted with that kind of knowledge," Toby answered simply.

"Well, could you tell us _something? _We're kind of lost here!" Dean asked, exasperated.

Toby shrugged. "Just show up."

He walked away, leaving the brothers in confused silence.

--------------------------------

Sam and Dean left the church and got into their car.

"All that talk about sacrifices doesn't exactly make me anxious for tomorrow night," Sam muttered.

"Tell me about it," Dean agreed. "But judging from what we _do_ know, they're probably gonna try to summon the devil in twenty-four hours. So logically, we have to stop them."

"How are we gonna do that? There's over twenty of them and two of us," Sam reminded.

"I dunno, I just figure coming up with a plan to stop _people_ will be easier than coming up with a plan to stop _demonic creatures_," Dean pointed out.

Sam sighed. "Maybe we should get backup or something."

"I think it's best that we don't drag anybody else into this," Dean said. The comment surprised Sam. "I mean, we don't know what's going to happen. We could be expected to go out on a killing spree or something. What if they want us to take out people we know? …we could end up in prison, or worse…" Dean trailed off. "Let's go home," he said suddenly.

"So now you want to run away and leave the whole world to die?" Sam asked incredulously. "I know we both don't wanna believe it, but the effects of what they're going to do could be catastrophic."

"I get it, it's frickin' scary," Dean interrupted. "We're gonna come back. I just want to warn Angie… tell her what's going on, you know?"

"Well Dean, they have these nifty things now called cell phones…"

"This isn't exactly the kind of conversation I want to have over the phone!" Dean snapped, then sighed. "I'm sorry, Sam, it's just… like you said, we have no idea what we've gotten ourselves into. So, I'm gonna say goodbye."

Sam looked at his older brother. Usually Dean didn't touch on such heavy subjects.

"We've fought for our lives before, you know what it's like," Dean reminded. "What goes through your mind… Angie's like the world to me. I've gotta make sure I say something, face-to-face with her… in case it's what I have to leave her with."

Sam nodded, and Dean started the car. He turned on the radio as they headed out towards the highway in silence, knowing they were in for a long car ride.

_Sing with me, sing for the year  
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears  
Sing with me, if it's just for today  
Maybe tomorrow the Good Lord will take you away..._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get up here. I've been dealing with tendonitis in my wrist, and it's finally starting to wane.

The song used is "I Just Love You" by Five For Fighting.

Just a warning, sensitive readers might want tissues nearby for this one...

CHAPTER FIVE

Angie glanced out the window as she heard the front door open. The Impala was sitting in the driveway.

"Back sooner that you thought, huh?" she called. "Is Sam here, or did you-" Angie stopped as Dean walked into the room. The expression on his face, for lack of any better explanation, just wasn't normal. "…take him home?" Angie finished. "What's going on?" she asked warily.

"I can't stay…" Dean started.

"Huh?" Angie asked, completely confused.

"By tomorrow afternoon I have to head back to Salinas."

"Why? Tell me what's going on," Angie knew something wasn't right.

"We're not just dealing with one crazy chick here," Dean explained. "We're dealing with a bunch of them. It's a cult of kids who are trying to summon the devil."

"I hate to break it to you, Dean, but there's tons of kids doing that all over the country," Angie reminded.

"Ever seen any of them actually succeed?" Dean asked.

Angie wasn't sure how to reply. "Did… did you see…?"

"I'm not sure what I saw at this point," Dean said. He shook his head, as if the motion could somehow sort out the jumble of thoughts in his mind. "It could've easily been a hoax, a magician's trick or something… and it could've just as easily been a minion of the underworld."

"Did something happen to you? Or Sam? Is Sam okay?" Angie asked.

"He's fine. I drove him home," Dean answered.

Angie sighed. "Why are you guys going back there tomorrow?"

"That's when they're going to execute what they referred to as their 'final plan,'" Dean explained. "I don't know what it's about, but I'm pretty sure some people are going to die if we don't try to stop them."

"Yeah, like you!" Angie exclaimed.

Dean's expression grew grimmer. "That's what I'm worried about."

"What?" Angie asked, her breath suddenly shaky. She'd expected Dean to pass off her concerns with some cocky remark, just as he always did. The seriousness had caught her completely off-guard, and now she realized why he had come all the way back just for a few hours at home. "Why don't you get some help with this?" she suggested. "There's some guys in the area, and I can come…"

"No!" Dean said strictly. "If… if something should happen… Jake needs somebody…"

Now Angie was scared. She hated to hear her husband talking like this. "Okay, I'll stay here. But there's tons of other people who I'm sure…"

"Angie, Sam and I have no idea what's gonna happen tomorrow night. We don't want to risk any more lives then we have to."

"God, Dean, please don't say stuff like that."

"I don't want to," Dean said, "but you need to know the truth. Something really bad could end up happening tomorrow night. I came back here today in case-"

Angie closed her eyes and turned her head away. She couldn't watch Dean say these things any longer. The full impact of his words had just hit her, and a tear or two fell from her eyes. She looked back at Dean, her eyes glistening.

He started to talk again. "I just wanted to-"

Angie interrupted him merely by shaking her head. Suddenly, needingly, and half-angrily, she embraced him. "Don't say anything else," she warned, her voice breaking. "Or I'll never be able to let you go."

Angie began to cry into Dean's shoulder. He obliged her request by remaining silent, but the power of the moment, combined with about a thousand memories of them that had suddenly, unexpectedly flooded his mind, was too much for him to handle. Tears began to fall from Dean's eyes as well.

----------------------------------

Somehow, Angie and Dean managed to pull themselves together, in order to assure that Jake had no idea of the worries that clogged both of their minds. For an hour or so before the five-year-old's bedtime, the Winchesters acted as an ordinary, happy family. They talked about what Jake wanted for his sixth birthday (which was only a few weeks away), watched television, and discussed the dilemma of a child bursting with energy being forced to endure naptime.

But once Jake had gone to sleep, there was nothing to hide anymore- although Angie and Dean tried to. There were so many questions they'd never gotten around to asking each other, and under these circumstances, not one thing was going to be taken lightly. Even when they'd both decided they were tired and went to bed, they just laid there. Understandably, their minds were too cluttered to get even a small bit of rest.

As Angie gazed over at Dean, she could see in his face that he might just be worrying even more than she was- and since she'd already felt nauseous from her anxiety, then Dean must've really been having a terrible night. He still hadn't told Angie every detail of what had happened, and he wasn't sure if he really should or not. Perhaps it was best to leave her a little uninformed after all… then maybe she would find some way to cling onto hope, the very concept that seemed to escape him that night.

Dean's expression showed that even though he was in the same room as Angie, he was also very far away, burdened with more thoughts than he'd ever been burdened with before. Angie curled up closer to him, hoping maybe to rest his mind. Dean did shift his gaze so it rested on her, but it failed to bring him much nearer.

_Lonely, yeah that's the word  
I leave my heart when I leave her  
The days go on forever and the nights do too  
One evening out on the road  
A half a world away from home  
I thought she was sleeping  
When the call came through  
I said, "Darling, it's late, is everything okay?"  
Silence took over the room  
'Til she said _

I... I just love you  
I don't know why, I just do  
When are you coming home?  
I'm coming home soon  
And I just love you too

--------------------------------------

Angie's stomach churned as she watched Dean place a duffel bag in his car. Even though she tried her hardest to avoid it, her thoughts kept wandering back to the notion that this could be her last memory of her husband. Every time it came up, she shuddered. The whole thing was so surreal. Angie tried to tell herself that things like this had happened before, and Dean had always come out of it okay. But his poignant behavior was making it difficult to truly believe. Even when he wasn't invincible, Dean had always acted like he was. And now that he wasn't, saying goodbye to him would be unbelievably hard to handle.

Dean walked up to her. "I have to go," he informed.

Angie nodded somberly. "I know you do. I just wish there was another way."

"I know, I know…" Dean answered. "We just have to stop these kids. There's no doubt they're going to kill people again, and that's the least they could do."

"Yeah, you told me," Angie said. It was obvious that she still wasn't keen on the idea.

Dean reached out his hand and stroked her hair. "Hey… try not to worry too much, okay? I need to know you have some hope for this."

"I do," Angie nodded. "I mean, you're the best, right?"

"Damn straight," Dean grinned.

Angie smiled and embraced him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too." They held each other for a few more seconds before Dean reluctantly pulled away.

"You call me as soon as this is over, okay?" Angie instructed.

"Don't worry, it's the first thing on my mind," Dean replied. There was a pause, during which neither of them took their eyes off of one another. It was obvious that they wanted to remember exactly what the other looked like.

"I hate to say it… but I guess you should probably be going."

Dean nodded. "Bye, Angie."

"Goodbye, Dean."

He waved as he walked towards his car, and Angie waved back. Dean opened the door of the Impala, climbed in, and reluctantly drove away.

------------------------------------------

Sam and Dean remained completely silent for the first ten miles or so of their trip. Dean turned on the radio to add some noise, but it didn't really do much to help the situation. Finally, he decided to say something.

"So how did Sarah take it?" Dean asked. "You did tell her, right? What could happen?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Things got kind of uneasy…"

"Join the club, Sammy," Dean replied.

A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews so far. Please keep reading and telling me what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: SO sorry for the horrendously long time between posting the last chapter and this one. I'm sure many others experienced the same problem... the website wouldn't let me upload. All I got was an error message!

And in the past few days, I've been hesitant to update this because of what it entails, and that it might remind some people of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. But I've made you loyal readers wait long enough... I don't want you to suffer anymore. So, I'd just like to say that this chapter was in no way written to be like, support, or criticize the Virginia Tech shootings. It was written before the incident, and unfortunately it seems that no matter when I post it, it will make some people uneasy. So if you're sensitive, you might not want to read this.

Well, for those of you still reading after this long break, I thank you for still paying attention to my fiction. Anyway, here it is...

CHAPTER SIX

Thunder boomed and lightening flashed across the dark sky as Dean and Sam pulled up to the church. It was a sign that wasn't exactly welcomed by either of them.

"Now or never," Sam sighed, opening the car door. Dean got out and followed his brother around to the trunk, where both of them proceeded to hide more weapons and holy items inside their clothes then they ever though possible. They then headed towards the church's door.

"You're late," Fay sneered as she opened it.

"Sorry," Dean apologized. "Traffic."

Fay conveyed a look that let her roll her eyes without moving them an inch. "Just get inside," she commanded.

Sam and Dean obeyed, and as soon as they entered the church, they noticed that the pews were full, and not of the people they'd met the day before.

"Sit down over there," Fay ordered.

Once seated, it was obvious to the brothers that something wasn't right about the situation they now found themselves in. Everyone whose faces they recognized were standing up on the altar, and all the people amongst them in the pews looked completely frightened. In fact, many of them were crying.

"Shut up!" one of the men on the altar commanded as he slapped a hyperventilating woman. "You'll all have plenty of crying to do in hell!"

Now Sam and Dean were also starting to get uneasy. All of these people sitting down seemed like hostages… so why where they sitting down with them?

"Toby!" Dean called, spotting the kid they'd met on the schoolgrounds. "What's going on?"

"You haven't figured it out already?" Toby scoffed. "You're all being sacrificed for the cause."

"What?" Sam and Dean exclaimed at the same time.

"Lemme guess, you guys actually thought you were one of us?" Toby chuckled. "You're not cut out for it. I could tell that from the first time I saw you two. Ironically, you guys like to _fight_ evil. Which doesn't exactly work out for us. So, we feel that you'll be better off burning to death like all of these other 'good people.'"

"You son of a bitch," Dean said, standing up and taking out his pistol. But before he had the chance to do anything, he heard the sound of another weapon loading, one that he could tell was much more powerful than his. He slowly turned his head to find Fay standing there with a shotgun aimed directly at him.

"I've already killed two people for resisting," she informed. "Don't think I'm going to treat you any differently because you're Dean Winchester. I could pick you off right now and move on to Sammy here in the blink of an eye."

"How'd you know who we are?" Dean asked.

Fay grinned. "I run this show, Dean. The Master… he tells me things. Told me that you two would come to check out the school, and that it would be absolutely _great _if you were here for this."

"It was a set up right from the beginning," Sam realized. "You made sure we would come here, so you could 'sacrifice' us or whatever you're doing."

"Bingo," Fay sneered. "The Winchester Brothers… Lucifer will _definitely _be pleased when you two show up at his feet. And judging by the amount of his subjects that you've killed over the years, I'd think he's going to have a lot of fun with you boys."

"Well you know, at least that shotgun sounds a lot better than that 'fiery death' thing Toby was talking about," Dean smirked.

"Hmm… you're right. Sit down," Fay ordered. Dean obliged, hoping that the loss of a shotgun in his face would buy him a little more time to think his way out of this one. "Oh, I'd like your weapons too, if you don't mind."

Dean just glared at her. "You know," she said, "if I do shoot you now, I'm gonna make sure I hit some place that's gonna cause a _slow_, _painful_ death. Actually, it will probably mean you'll feel the pain of bullets _and_ the fiery death thing. Imagine that."

Dean sighed as he emptied his coat. "That's a good boy," Fay smirked. "You too, Sammy. Cough 'em up."

"It's time to start the chant," a man informed as soon as Sam and Dean had been completely cleaned out of their ammunition.

All of the people who they'd seen the night before gathered back up on the altar and began the all-too-familiar Latin chant. However, police sirens suddenly interrupted the ritual before it could be finished.

"What the hell?" Fay asked, noticeably agitated at the disturbance.

"They're gonna send in officers in about thirty seconds," someone frantically informed.

"Great," Fay sighed. "We won't have enough time."

"Who the hell called the police???" a man shouted, waving a gun up and down the rows of trembling hostages.

Sam looked over at Dean, to convey how lucky they'd just gotten.

"It was the least I could do," Dean whispered, turning off his cell phone.

"We still have the explosives ready," Fay said. "At this point, we'll have to hope it works even without the chant."

"Shit," Dean muttered at the announcement. "I was hoping the police would be in here by now."

At the word 'explosives,' a mass panic broke out amongst the hostages. All of a sudden, nobody cared anymore about being shot- they all began to run for it, hoping that by some stroke of luck, they'd make it to the door. Gunshots rang out and people screamed, but that didn't stop them from continuing to flee.

Once there were enough people around for them to not be seen, the brothers got up out of their seats and started to move. After a while, Sam looked back and noticed that Dean wasn't following him. He immediately stopped and scanned the crowd. It was useless. There was no way he could see his brother through the frantic throng.

"Dean? Dean!" he called out, hoping that maybe he could hear a reply over all of the shouting.

"Toby, you have to set off the bomb before they all get away!" Fay demanded.

Toby took a small remote control out of his pocket and placed his finger on top of the button. However, he hesitated as he looked through the helpless, panicked crowd, and flinched instead of pressing it.

"Toby, NOW!" Fay screamed at him.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pushed the button. Sam was still shouting for Dean when the giant explosion muted every other sound.

A/N: Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging with a cliffhanger like this for nearly as long as this last wait. (Unless fanfiction has something against that and won't let me upload again lol.)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, this is less than the time between my last two updates... I still feel sorry for making you guys wait though. I've been getting ready for prom, and it involes a lot more than I'd expected. :P

Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad to see everyone stuck with the story during the long update gap!

CHAPTER SEVEN

Angie felt more and more uneasy by the second as she thought about what could be going on with Dean. She listened intently for the telephone, and repeatedly checked her cell phone for messages as well.

"Mommy, it's your turn!" Jake reminded.

Angie snapped out of her trance. "Sorry, honey," she apologized. "Mommy's got a lot to think about right now. Does your person… have red hair?" she asked, reverting the conversation back to the game of Guess Who that she was playing with her son.

By the time they were finished, Angie could barely take being in the dark much longer. She wanted more than anything to rush out the door and go to Dean directly, even if it would mean breaking her promise to him about staying with Jake. She decided to curl up on the couch and turn on the TV.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she saw the words "Breaking News" across the bottom of the screen.

"Another tragic story out of Salinas today as what appears to be the second hostage situation in two days comes to a fiery end. The image you see here is of St. Margaret's Church, which has been burning continuously since multiple detonation devices were set off about an hour ago. Firefighters are currently fighting the blaze, and local police arrived on the scene just a few minutes before the explosion, apparently responding to a 911 text message sent by a hostage inside. Many people are currently being rushed to hospitals in the area, but there is no way to confirm yet how many were inside or how many survivors there are."

Angie gasped. She didn't need precise conformation- a terrible feeling told her that Dean was inside the building she saw on her TV screen.

"What do you want to play now, mommy?" Jake asked, returning from putting away Guess Who in the other room. Angie quickly turned off the TV. She was speechless as she looked at her son.

"C'mon, buddy," she said as she got up from the couch. "We're going next door." She picked Jake up in her arms and rushed out.

Angie had barely ever spoken to her neighbor, despite the fact that the woman had been living in the town long before she and Dean had moved in. As she ran out of the door and over to the next house, she prayed that Mrs. Connor was as charitable as she remembered from all of her housewarming gifts.

"Why hello, Angie," Mrs. Connor greeted as she answered the door.

"No time to explain, Irene," Angie said frantically. "I'm so sorry to ask you to do this, but do you think you could watch Jake for a few hours? Please, this is really urgent, and I totally forgot where I wrote my babysitter's number…"

Sensing the frenzy in Angie's mind, Irene spared her from rambling any further. "Of course, Angie. I can help any time you need me," she said.

"Thank you _so _much," Angie said, putting Jake down. "Mommy will be back soon, okay? I love you. Be good." She turned back to Mrs. Connor, trying to quickly remember some of the standard babysitter facts. "His bedtime is 8:30, feed him whatever you want, he's not allergic. I have to go, thank you!" Angie said quickly as she turned to leave.

"I hope everything's alright!" Irene Connor called out after her.

"Me too," Angie whispered as she took off for the bus stop, cursing herself for never getting her own car.

---------------------------------------------------

No matter how hard he tried, Sam couldn't see a thing through the thick smoke around him. As far as he was concerned, seeing nothing but gray through watery, ash-filled eyes was worse than being blind. "Dean?" he tried to call out, coughing on his own words. He knew the fumes were going to suffocate him if he stayed inside much longer. Sam fumbled around, tripping over dozens of injured people crying out in pain. He waited for some kind of answer, hoping desperately that his brother wasn't one of the people beneath him.

"DEAN!" he called out again, as loud as his smoke-filled lungs would let him. Sam took a few more uneasy steps and stumbled over something. He couldn't see what it was, and really didn't want to know. Sam felt sick as he wondered if he had just fallen onto a dead body. Before he had the chance to get up again, someone else tripped over him. Just like that, Sam was trapped, and he didn't think his lungs could find oxygen for much longer.

Suddenly, he saw a bright flashlight wave through the screen of smoke. As it drew closer, Sam could see that it, and two other lights, were coming from firemen rushing to find survivors. One of them pulled the man off of Sam, and another grabbed Sam's hand and helped him sit up. He still couldn't see well, but he felt a lot better once they put an oxygen mask on his face.

"Come with us, son, we'll get you out," one of the firemen instructed. Two of them hoisted Sam to his feet and guided him towards the door.

"Wait, my brother…" Sam protested.

"Kid, if he's alive, chances are he'll be outside already. We've pretty much combed the place," the fireman informed. Sam wasn't sure if the comment was supposed to make him feel better or worse.

------------------------------

"I'm fine, trust me!" Sam protested as he pulled the oxygen mask off his face and shoved it back at the firemen. He walked away from them, ignoring all of their shouts that he needed to wear it for longer.

Frantically Sam searched the crowd for any sign of his brother. He called out his name again, never knowing that one word could make him so horse. Sam walked around some more, desperately pushing his way through the ever-growing throng.

He'd searched for what seemed like forever, and the only thing he'd found was the Impala, exactly as they'd left it. As one last effort to locate Dean, Sam attempted to call him on his cell phone. He went cold as he heard the "disconnected" sound come through. Sam hung up and sank down onto the seat of the car, exasperated and bewildered about what had just happened. Sure, he and his brother had considered the possibility of not making it out of this, but deep down, they'd hoped that their years of demon hunting skills would've somehow saved them.

As Sam looked around at all of the newsvans from various television stations, he realized that this was only going to become even more of a circus as time went on. He also knew there was someone he had to call. Taking out his cell phone again, he dialed home.

"Hello?" came a distressed voice from the other end.

"Sarah…" Sam began. He was relieved at the sound of a familiar voice, even if it wasn't the one he was looking for. "It's so good to hear you."

"Sam, thank god!" came Sarah's reply, also obviously relieved. "I've been watching the news, I thought-"

"I know," Sam interjected. "I got out. I'm okay."

Sarah heaved an audible sigh of relief. "Those were the scariest two hours of my life," she admitted, trying to smile. "I'm so glad it's over."

"Well… I wouldn't say that just yet," Sam said grimly.

"Why, what's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, I've been looking everywhere…" Sam paused to keep his voice from breaking. "I can't find Dean."

"Oh, God… does Angie know?"

"Not yet. I don't want to tell her over the phone that her husband might be-" Sam cut off. He just couldn't say it.

"Good idea," Sarah nodded. "Honey, I can't imagine what's going through your head. You just do whatever you have to do right now, okay? Don't lose your spirits," she said, trying to console Sam. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sarah," Sam answered. "I… I don't know how soon I'll be home…"

"I understand. Whenever," Sarah said. "Just be careful out there."

"I will," Sam agreed. "Bye, honey."

"Bye, Sam."

As Sam hung up the phone, a new thought crossed his mind. Perhaps Dean was just one of the first loaded into an ambulance. Maybe Dean was already down at the hospital. Sam's hopes rose a little as he realized that he hadn't exhausted all of the possibilities. Once he drove to the hospital, he still had a chance to find his brother. Then Sam realized that out of habit, he was sitting in the Impala's passenger seat. For the first time, Dean wasn't there to tell him to keep his hands off the steering wheel… and it felt terrible.

------------------------------

Angie couldn't take sitting still in a non-moving bus any longer. Since it was obvious that the traffic detour was caused by all of the ambulances anyway, she decided to race off the bus and follow the emergency vehicles on foot to the hospital.

"Dean?" she called out the minute she walked in the door. Seemingly hundreds of scarred, bleeding people looked at her, but not one of them was her husband. "Dean? DEAN?" she continued to call as she squeezed her way down the hallway around all of the stretchers and equipment. Angie began to get desperate. "Have you seen Dean?" she asked random people in the waiting room. All of them shook their heads, to her dismay. Of course, she didn't expect any of them to know who she was talking about, but it seemed to be the only form of hope she had left.

Angie's eyes widened as she caught sight of a doctor. "Have you seen my husband?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're very busy right now," the doctor replied.

Angie couldn't believe how he was trying to blow her off. "Where is he?" she asked forcefully.

"I can't help you right now," the doctor reiterated.

"Ma'am, you're gonna have to wait in the hall with everyone else," a nurse told her.

Angie couldn't take standing out there with all of those wounded, aching people… plus, she knew that once she left this room to sit down somewhere, she wouldn't get a chance to effectively look for Dean again for a long time. The panic overwhelmed her. "_Where is he?_" Angie demanded. She grabbed the doctor by his coat. "Where's my husband?"

"Ma'am, you'll have to calm down," the nurse said as she attempted to get Angie's hands away from the physician.

"Dean Winchester!" Angie shouted. "Where _is_ he!"

"Please, calm down!" the doctor shouted back.

"Tell me what you know!"

"Angie!" a third voice shouted. "Stop."

Angie froze, and slowly released her grip on the doctor. "Sam?" she said softly, trying to calm herself down. The doctor and nurse walked away, and Sam walked up to her. "What happened?" Angie asked, begging for some sort of concrete answer.

Her brother-in-law didn't answer for a moment. Instead, he stared at Angie, still taking in all of the emotional confusion and fury that he'd just witnessed. She certainly wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"Please, Sam," Angie said, trying her hardest to keep her eyes from watering. "You have to know something. You were there!"

"There was a lot of smoke," Sam said finally. "I couldn't…"

"Where is he?" Angie asked.

"I've looked all around the church and all through this hospital, the best I could."

The first tears, but certainly not the last, escaped Angie's eyes. "No," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "_No…_" she continued, her voice and lips quivering.

"I'm so sorry, Angie," Sam said. For lack of anything better to console her with, he embraced her.

"No, no, no, no…" she started to sob as they stood there in the middle of the waiting room.

"Look, I want you to know that it's because of Dean that there aren't hellspawns roaming the Earth right now," Sam informed. "Every person brought into this hospital would be dead if he hadn't sent that text message to the police. He _saved _us. Alright? At least be proud of that."

Angie nodded, but the news did little to combat the sorrow she felt. "I should've never let him go."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Procrastination is fun! lol. Thanks to all the reviewers. I love reading you guys' reactions after I post a chapter.

The song used briefly in this chapter is "Golden Slumbers" by The Beatles.

CHAPTER EIGHT

_PRESENT DAY_

Angie sniffled. "And that's how it happened," she finished.

"No one ever found him?" Jake asked.

"Honey, it's been over a year. If he was still alive, we would know by now," Angie said.

"But you're not sure," Jake stated.

Angie smiled weakly at her son. "That's exactly how I was thinking at first. The only reason I didn't go out on some crazy search for him was because of the promise I made, that I'd stay with you."

"I can go with you, mommy," Jake suggested.

Angie laughed and wiped her eyes. "You're gonna make your daddy proud someday. I can see it already."

"Are you okay, mommy?" Jake asked, noticing that his mother was crying.

"I'm fine, honey," Angie answered. However, she was aware that a change of subject was seriously in order. "Now… isn't someone's favorite TV show about to come on?"

Jake's face lit up as he realized what time it was, got up, and ran towards the garage's side door.

"I'll be in in a second," Angie called after him. She looked over at the car, and sighed. Would she ever be able to reminisce without shedding a tear?

She guessed that her vulnerability was due to what time of year it was- her and Dean's anniversary. Angie looked down at her hand. Unlike most widows, she had never taken off her wedding ring. Dean was always going to be a part of her, and hiding that was useless.

"He's just like you, you know," Angie said to the wind. "So determined… I'll have to watch him and make sure he doesn't run off looking for wendigos."

She remembered what it had been like in those first few months after Dean's death; the hardest time to get through. That was the time when she had been exactly like her son- convinced that all of the forensic scientists and police had just missed over Dean, and that he was still out there, dead or alive. It had taken a month before Sam could finally snap her out of it and force her to rejoin the world of normal people. Angie remembered how she had called her brother-in-law in the middle of the night, distressed and confused after yelling at Jake for a simple mistake. At the time, she wasn't sure if she could successfully be a single mother.

_FLASHBACK_

"He's always going to be with you, Angie, you have to believe that. Just because he's not physically there to help you doesn't mean you can't get advice from him. You know how he would think in every situation. You have to focus on Jake right now. He needs as much help through this as you do."

"Yeah. I know," Angie nodded. "It's just that I didn't realize until now how hard it's going to be without Dean here."

"Well, he had his share of clueless moments, too," Sam reminded. "Do you remember the time he wanted to sing Jake 'Enter Sandman' as a lullaby?"

Angie laughed through her tears. "Yeah."

"You might not always do everything perfectly, but you're not going to screw everything up either."

_PRESENT DAY_

Somehow, Sam's words had been enough of a wake-up call to snap Angie out of her deepest depression. It was then that she'd realized how sitting around and missing Dean wasn't going to bring him back, and it wasn't going to make her feel any better, either. Since then, she'd managed to gradually return to being herself again.

Including knowing she would never forget Dean. Angie looked back at the car before leaving the garage. She sometimes still wondered if he could have cheated death amidst all of the chaos that night, but unlike a year ago, she now knew it wasn't healthy to cling too tightly onto that daydream.

--------------------------------

A damp, dreary chill spread all throughout the hallways and holding cells. Those trapped inside knew that conditions within real, official jails were probably just as bad, but just about anything seemed better than this makeshift prison. The wind gusts seemed to be a daily, periodic thing- a cold air that appeared to blow merely to spite the prisoners, since such a temperature was ironic in desert climates. Nonetheless, it came every day, and never failed to bring a shiver or two.

It only added to their loneliness. Most of them had arrived here at different times, but each one felt that they'd been away from what mattered most for lifetimes. The next gust of wind carried something else through the halls with it- a song. A sad lament by one of those stuck here. It certainly wasn't the first time someone's emptiness had led to singing, but it was still powerful nonetheless.

"_Once there was a way to get back homeward. Once there was a way to get back home. Sleep pretty darling, do not cry…_"

"SHUT UP!" Came the all-too-familiar sinister voice. Fay's glaring, beady eyes appeared on the outside of the cell's bars. "Is that _all _you people ever do?"

"Well, there's really nothing else to do," Dean chided in response.

"Still _so_ bold… after over a year, too. I'm half tempted to sacrifice you right now, just so I wouldn't have to listen to you anymore," Fay sneered.

"Go ahead," Dean tempted.

Fay shook her head and walked away, leaving him alone yet again inside his cold, damp concrete cell. She'd already been over this many times- killing Dean now, as if on a whim, would be nothing more than a dumb way for Fay to get back on the Devil's "good side," which she knew wouldn't work. Then He would think her more pathetic than He already did. Fay was grasping at straws… the only thing to get her back on top again after the church disaster would be to try the summoning again, recreating everything than had happened a year ago- once Lucifer had risen up, _then_ the Winchesters would be valuable sacrifices.

All of a sudden, Fay turned around and put her face extremely close to the metal bars of Dean's cell. "Soon, though." She gave an evil smile. "You see, last time, it was written in the stars- bad luck, that's what it was. This year, we've picked the perfect dates… we can't lose twice. And we won't," she declared firmly.

"Who's we?" Dean mumbled, reminding Fay that she was one of only three original members to still be working towards her goal.

She flashed him a piercing, fiery look. But instead of shouting something back, she called for someone else. "I have a job for you," she said. "Go out to California, and bring back the youngest Winchester." The person nodded and walked off. Fay turned back to Dean. "There's no reason Sam should be left out," she smirked.

A/N: This week is going to be _insane_ schoolwork-wise for me, so I don't know if I'll be able to update or not. Hang in there, though!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I cannot apologize enough for the extreme delay in posting this chapter. It seems that my schoolwork just started piling up out of control, and whenever I had a moment to breathe I had writer's block because my brain was so fried. So, school's finally over, and I've finally gotten around to continue writing. With luck, it'll keep up at a consistent pace throughout the summer. Soooo many thanks in advance for everyone loyal enough to continue reading after all this time!

Search & Rescue

CHAPTER NINE

Angie's cell phone rang as she walked home from work. She took it out, looked at the Caller ID, and answered. "Hey, Claire. Sorry I'm late, work was-"

"Is Jake with you?" Claire Markes interrupted.

Angie stopped cold. "No… he should be at the playground with Tommy, same as always." Every day, Angie would take Jake and his friend Tommy to school in the morning, and Tommy's mother would pick the boys up in the afternoon.

"Well, I don't mean to panic you, but I've been looking around for the past hour and I can't find him," Claire said. "Tommy doesn't know where he went either."

"I'll check at my house," Angie said. She realized her hands were shaking. "If- if he's not there, I'll come over as soon as I can." Her casual walk automatically broke into a run as she hung up.

------------------------------------

"So, Mrs. Markes, you arrived-"

"3:15, same time I told the other officer," Claire said, exasperated after her second police interview.

"We're just being thorough," the officer reassured.

Claire sighed. "Their school lets out at three, the same time my shift at the store ends. I can't get here any sooner than 3:15, so the boys play on the school playground until then. I figured it would be a safe place, with all of the parents and teachers here. Guess I was wrong."

Angie had already been questioned by police three times, and wasn't eager for the reporters, who would soon show up and shove cameras in her face. All she wanted was to know where her son was. Did someone take him? If so, why did they single out Jake from all of the other children? Tommy, Jake's best friend, was unscathed, sitting by his mother, and hadn't seen a thing. So what had happened?

Angie began to feel queasy as she envisioned last year all over again, and bit back some tears. There was no way she would be able to survive two losses- especially not all alone. She wanted desperately to know what was going on. Angie reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and dialed.

"Come on, Sam, pick up," she muttered as it rang incessantly.

"Hello?" he answered finally.

Angie breathed a sigh of relief. "You're home."

"Angie, I was just going to call you!" Sam said. "I have to tell you something."

"Me t-"

"Sarah's pregnant!" Sam announced before Angie could even get two words out.

She was speechless. Now what? Her brother-in-law obviously deserved to be with his wife for this moment. "Wow… that's great, Sam."

"Is something wrong?" Sam asked. He knew her too well to believe her pathetic attempt at congratulation.

"You have no idea," Angie answered, abandoning the ruse.

"I'll be right there," Sam said, knowing from her tone that whatever it was was urgent..

"No, you don't have t-" But Angie's protests were no use; he had already hung up the phone. Now all she could do was wait for Sam, and wonder if Sarah would forgive her for tearing her husband away on one of the happiest days of her life.

A/N: I give you guys permission to yell at me for not updating sooner, and updating finally with such a short chapter. I feel terrible about it.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks sooo much guys for still reading this!!! Hopefully you'll continue, because this chapter's longer than the tiny one I last posted, and you certainly didn't have to wait as long for it. ;)

CHAPTER TEN

"What's going on?" Sam asked, catching his breath as he addressed Angie.

"Did you run here?" she wondered, observing his panting.

"From your house, yeah," Sam answered. "My car's in the shop, so I took a bus here. And you weren't home, so I figured I should follow the flashing lights."

"Apparently so did every reporter within a ten-mile radius," Angie muttered, commenting on the swarm of newscasters than had barely given her a moment's peace since they'd arrived.

"So what's going on?" Sam asked.

"Jake's missing," Angie said grimly.

"What?"

"Every day he goes home with his friend Tommy Markes until I get off work," Angie informed. "I was heading home today when I got a call from Tommy's mother. Nobody knows where he went, and nobody can find him."

"He was last seen here?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, playing on the playground with the other kids, same as every day."

"I… I'm sorry I told you about Sarah like that," Sam apologized. "It must've been the last thing you wanted to hear."

"It's alright, Sam. You deserve to be exited," Angie said. "I just need your help with this."

Sam nodded, understanding. His sister-in-law was pretty strong now, but when she'd said that, she looked almost as vulnerable as she'd been a year ago. "Just remember, he couldn't have gone far."

"Unless somebody took him," Angie reminded.

"Angie…" Sam didn't want her drawing conclusions and panicking before all the facts were sorted out.

"Jake would have no reason to wander off somewhere," she persisted. "And he's smart. If he got lost, he would find his way home."

"Well, the police will probably figure out if he was taken soon enough," Sam reassured.

"Unless the kidnapper was the kind that didn't leave any trace," Angie said. Sam looked at her suspiciously. "You know… the kind of criminal we usually deal with."

Sam sighed. "Angie, not everything that happens to us has to be supernatural. Let's not jump to conclusions yet, alright?"

"See that kid over there?" Angie chose to indirectly reply to Sam's suggestion. "That's Tommy. Jake's best friend. They do everything together. And even _he _doesn't know what happened. Didn't see a thing. Don't you think that's strange? It's characteristic of memory tampering, or temporal stasis…"

"Or some really cool new monkey bars," Sam pointed out.

"Alright, fine," Angie muttered. "Kids _can_ have short attention spans. But there were parents there too, parents that know who Jake is, and none of them saw anything either."

"You're thinking too much into this," Sam said. "It's okay. I would too if I was you right now. For the time being, just let the police do their jobs…"

"But they're not going to find anything!" Angie protested. She realized how loud she'd gotten, and paused for a second to calm herself. "I just have a feeling about this, Sam. It wasn't normal."

"Angie…"

"No, Sam," she interrupted, knowing exactly what he would say. "Hunches used to be your bread and butter. You can't tell me now that it's foolish to follow one that could find my son."

Sam sighed. "Alright, alright. It could be something paranormal."

"Thank you," Angie said.

"But before we _do _anything, we should see what the police find out," Sam continued.

Angie groaned in frustration. "Nothing! They're _still_ interrogating a crapload of witnesses who aren't going to know anything. We're not going to get any 'official' information until tomorrow, at least," she explained. "Please Sam, I'm too frazzled to think right now. There's got to be _something _we can do," Angie begged. "I promised Dean I would protect him."

Sam was silent for a moment. "Does the school have any security cameras?" he finally asked.

"No," Angie answered. "It's just kindergarten to fourth grade, so I guess no one thought there was much of a need for them."

"Damn…" Sam muttered. He looked around. "But they do." Angie followed his hand as he pointed to a building across the street. Just visible were the cameras set up to guard the parking lot. "They might not have the best quality from that distance, but the playground might still be visible. C'mon."

Angie followed him towards the road. "I don't have an I.D. on me," she realized, referring to one of the many false badges that had gained them access to various places over the years.

"I don't think a place this small is going to be that official. You'll be fine…" Sam said. A smile began to grow on his face. "… as long as you don't introduce yourself as Nanker Phelge again."

"Would you shut up about that?" Angie asked, annoyed at the comment and her brother-in-law's smirk. "I was given a split second to react, we'd just been talking about the Rolling Stones in the car, and I'm not always good at thinking on my feet, alright?"

----------------------------------

"It's all in here, officers," the business's manager informed Sam and Angie as he opened the door to a back room.

"We appreciate your cooperation," Sam said as they walked in. The manager left as they sat down to watch the security tapes.

"Okay, this should be 3:00 this afternoon…" Sam said after a while of tape examination. He hit play.

The camera's main focus was on the business's parking lot. However, the school playground still was visible in the upper righthand corner. Sam and Angie leaned in and squinted to combat low quality of the video.

Even so, it was more than enough for Angie. "There he is, I see him!" she said, pointing to her son on the screen.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Absolutely."

She and Sam kept their eyes glued to Jake from then on, watching his every move. All of a sudden, the entire image on the screen disappeared only to be replaced by static.

"What is that, what happened?" Angie asked, startled.

The screen quickly returned to normal, the playground and parking lot re-materializing into view.

"Where is he?" Angie muttered to herself as she scrutinized the area. "Oh God, I lost him."

"Maybe he just went to another part of the playground," Sam suggested.

"Do you really think so?" Angie asked with a sarcastic tone, reminding her brother-in-law that Jake was now basically a missing person's case.

Sam didn't answer, but his look told Angie that she was right. A sinking feeling set in as she realized that the moment her son disappeared had somehow vanished from the tape. "Let's rewind it and see if anything happened just before the camera failed," Sam said as he reversed the footage.

"Do you still think I'm overreacting?" Angie chided. She was now only a step away from being completely certain that there was a paranormal element in all of this.

Sam pressed play. This time, they scanned the entire screen, looking for anyone strange or suspicious. Just as before, it wasn't long before the screen turned to fuzz.

"We can't see anything! How are we supposed to know what happened?" Angie asked frantically, the despair evident in her voice.

"Hold on a second…" Sam said. He rewound the tape again, and this time paused the screen at the moment right before the camera cut out.

"What are you looking for?" Angie asked.

"Oh my God," Sam whispered.

"What?" Angie asked, not liking the sound of that whisper at all. "Don't tell me this is one of those things only you can see."

"I don't think so…" Sam replied. He pointed to a man walking across the parking lot, who had just come into the camera's view. "Angie, you're not gonna believe this… but this guy's from that group Dean and I tried to stop last year."

"_The Devils' Advocates?_" Angie asked in disbelief. "The Devils' Advocates took my son?" Sam of course didn't have a definite answer, but he bore a grim expression on his face. Angie froze. She said the only thing she could think of.

"Holy shit."

A/N: I'm pretty sure no one else will have any clue what Nanker Phelge is, so just ignore that. It'll be an inside joke... between me and myself... lol.

Please ignore my insanity and R&R. :P


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: How long has it been since my last update? I can't even remember anymore. This whole summer has been a blur of heat, summer reading, cleaning, and going to stuff. lol. Well anyway, I _hope _you guys haven't been waiting too long...

The song used in this chapter is "Coming Home" by John Legend.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Those insane, murderous, trigger-happy bastards who killed my husband… now they've taken my son, too?" Angie pondered aloud. "I can't believe this. Haven't they tortured us enough already?"

Sam didn't really have an answer. Actually, he was trying to make sense of everything just like Angie was, albeit less vocally.

"What the hell are they going to do with him, Sam?" Angie panicked. "Don't tell me he's another sacrificial-" but she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. The thought was too much.

Sam was about to go over and comfort her, but to his surprise, she kept her composure. Instead of breaking down, the obvious pain in her eyes had manifested into fire.

"So what now?" Angie asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned.

"Well we have to find Jake," Angie clarified. "Now that we know who we're dealing with, and that they have power at least to make cameras glitch… maybe even power over memories… there's no way we can just leave this one up to the police."

Sam nodded. "Agreed."

Angie breathed a sigh of relief. Although she knew that Sam cared about his nephew, some of her was still expecting him to reject her idea. "Okay, so what do you know about that guy? Where could he have wanted to take Jake?"

Sam traced his memory, but it wasn't of much use. "I don't know anything specifically about any of them. Only Toby, the kid that led us into this whole mess, and Fay, their sort-of leader. That guy's not either of them. But he was definitely involved, I recognize his face."

"Alright… so maybe we should go to the church," Angie suggested. "I remember Dean telling me that they had a whole plan worked out, a reason for making holy ground their headquarters. So maybe they took Jake there." Angie hated theorizing, because it forced her to imagine all the possible places and situations her son was being forced into.

Sam was silent for a minute.

"What, you don't think it's a good idea?" Angie asked.

"No, we should definitely check it out," Sam replied. "It's just… I haven't been there since, y'know, that night."

Angie understood now. This was going to be a hard experience for her brother-in-law to relive. "Oh. Well, you don't have to come…"

"No," Sam shook his head in disagreement. "I'm not letting you go there alone. If they were able to get the upper hand on me and Dean like they did, one hunter will be easy for them."

"True," Angie agreed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"No," Sam admitted. "But I don't have a choice."

--------------------------------------

"You IDIOT!" Fay bellowed. The shout echoed through the room and out to the halls of the makeshift prison, bouncing off of the concrete walls at every turn. Its range and sustenance reflected just how pissed off she really was. "Since we began this entire project, I've talked about getting the Winchester _brothers!_" she continued angrily.

"You-you said bring the youngest Winchester," Simon reminded, desperately hoping that Fay wasn't about to snap his neck for his mistake. However, he knew that nothing short of a miracle could pacify Fay when she was angry.

"I was unaware that there was a boy," Fay admitted as a mutter. "But after over a year of context clues, I think _anyone _should've been able to figure out that I was referring to SAM!"

All the while, Jake sat watching the argument in fear. He didn't dare move a muscle, for fear of receiving some sort of reprimand from a scary-looking man in the corner that was supposed to "guard" him. He still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened. One second, he was racing his friend Tommy across the playground. The next he could remember, this guy whose name was apparently Simon had brought him to this dreary place. Being a Winchester, he could guess that these were the type of people his father used to go after, but his age and disproportionate size made him unable to even attempt to fight his way out.

"What do you want me to do, take him back and get the right one?" Simon asked.

Fay detected the slight sarcasm underneath his fear and shot him a piercing look. "No, he knows too much now. We've already used all the memory-tampering power Lucifer gave us with your _useless_ stunt at the playground," she chided, not letting her subservient forget his mistake. "Plus, knowing that family, they're already on guard, waiting to strike. We'll have to take our chances with the power of a father/son Winchester sacrifice."

"Do you want me to take the boy to his cell, Fay?" Simon asked.

"Absolutely not," Fay replied. "I'll be the one to take care of that. You can't be trusted anymore."

"But…" Simon tried to protest. Fay cut him off.

"You're going to have a lot of time to think about your mistake inside _your_ cell, Simon," she said. "And even more, once you're sacrificed because of it."

A look of horror flashed across Simon's eyes, but he dared not say anything. If he did, Fay might change her mind and decide to kill him right there.

The man in the corner finally diverted his attention from Jake, switching instead to the scared former Devil's Advocate. He led the horrified Simon out of the room towards the prison area.

"Come with me, Jake," Fay said, grabbing the boy's hand. He wordlessly obeyed and let the woman lead him down the hall, past several jail cells he'd always thought he would only see on television.

"I've brought you a cellmate, Dean," Fay said as she unlocked the barred door. Jake was scared, but that didn't stop his eyes from widening at the sound of that word.

"Sam?" Dean wondered. As he turned over and sat up from his bed, however, he discovered not his brother but his son being shoved inside. "Jake…" he gasped, his voice coming out as a stunned whisper.

"Daddy?" Jake asked warily, still not entirely sure that this wasn't all just some dream. He jumped at the sound of the cell door being slammed closed behind him.

"Hey, you can't keep him here! He's just a boy!" Dean shouted at Fay as she disappeared down the hall.

It was impossible for Dean to discern between the emotions he felt as he looked at his scared, innocent, long-lost son standing there. It was a miracle that he was getting to see his boy again… but why did he have to be put here in this hell? Dean knew that Jake should be outside right now, running around and playing like every other kid his age.

As his son continued to stare at him with a nervous fascination, Dean realized that he would have to stifle his anger at the Advocates for a while and talk to him. Right now, he had to be a father.

A proud smile wasn't hard for Dean to conjure up as he stared at his son for the first time in over a year. "It's okay," he reassured. "They're not going to hurt you." Dean said the words as an absolute truth, but in his mind he was hoping he was right. Jake seemed to believe it anyway, because he was now slowly nodding at his father.

Dean stretched out his arms. "Come here, buddy."

Jake eagerly ran up to hug him.

"Gosh, you grew!" Dean said, beaming as he admired his son's height.

"Mommy says soon I'll be taller than you," Jake grinned.

Dean couldn't help but smile at the familiar tease. "Well, you tell mommy not to make fun of me when I'm not around to defend myself," he instructed.

Jake smiled, but then looked at his father seriously. "Mommy thought you were dead," he informed.

Dean's smile understandably faded. Of course, he couldn't really blame Angie for it. He'd been trapped in Fay's clutches ever since that night in the church, when one of her followers picked him off the floor and carried him away as the surviving Advocates made their escape. If the force of that explosion hadn't sent him careening into that wall, Dean would've been conscious, and able to get away. He sighed as he remembered again that if that was the case, he could've seen his son that very night.

But unfortunately, he had ended up here. And after all this time, it was no surprise to him that Angie wanted closure. Dean's heart sank as he realized the amount of unnecessary grief his wife had gone through.

He tried to think of a way to respond to what Jake had just told him. However, he found himself unable to think beyond the obvious. "Well… I'm not," he said. "I've just been in here."

"So is everyone going to think I'm dead too?" Jake asked.

"No," Dean reassured, "Of course not." He hoped his parenting skills hadn't gotten rusty after being in here alone for so long. "In fact, mom and uncle Sam are probably out looking for you right now." Dean realized that he wasn't just saying this to make his son feel better- he believed it was true. Some hope returned to his heart as he realized that if they managed to find Jake, they would find him too. Dean would finally get to see his family again, and hopefully not under the circumstances in which he'd just been reunited with his son.

_A father waits upon a son_

_A mother prays for his return_

_I just called to see_

_If you still have a place for me_

_We know that life took us apart_

_But you're still within my heart_

_I go to sleep and feel your spirit next to me_

_I'll make it home again…_

"How's she doing, anyway?" Dean asked, eager to hear about what he'd been missing.

"Who, mommy?" Jake asked.

"No, uncle Sam," Dean said with a grin. The joke caused Jake to emit a loud laugh- the first ever heard within these prison walls. Even though they were still trapped inside their concrete cells, the simple happiness on Jake's face was infectious. Before he knew it, Dean found himself laughing along with his son. It was the first time he'd done so in over a year.

He hugged his boy once again. "I missed you, buddy," Dean said.

"I missed you too, daddy."

_It may be long to get me there_

_It feels like I've been everywhere_

_But someday I'll be coming home_

_Round and round the world will spin_

_Oh, the circle never ends_

_So you know that I'll be coming home…_

A/N: Please keep up all the reviews that I love so much!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I think now I've pretty much got the framework for the whole story set... now all I have to do is write everything down and edit it until I'm sure it's not terrible. So, hopefully you guys won't have to wait so long between chapters anymore!

The song used briefly is "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Angie and Sam left the building in silence. They barely spoke as they walked the streets back to Angie's house. Instead, they kept their heads down and thought about the task before them. Would the Devil's Advocates really have the same base of operation after all this time? Of course, they would have to go to the church and look around to find out, but the thought of hitting a dead end pained them both.

Something else was bothering Angie as well. Though she contemplated discarding the thought, she decided instead to voice her concern. "I hope Jake isn't paranoid right now because of me," she said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well… yesterday, I told him about how Dean died."

"What? You mean _exactly_?"

"Most of it. He was just gonna keep asking if I didn't."

"But Angie, he's seven years old! It's kind of hard for someone that young to hear about how their dad got blown away by a bomb, don't you think?" Sam pointed out. In his anger, he hadn't even thought to say something less harsh about his brother's death.

Angie had clearly been affected by the outburst. "Well, it's hard for me too, and I haven't been seven years old in quite a while," she said, returning her gaze to the pavement. "It was going to be hard no matter what age I decided to tell him something more than 'daddy's job was dangerous.' After all I've been through in my life, I'm not too keen on hiding things from people." Sam decided not to answer. "I just hope that after what I told him, he's not panicked right now thinking the same thing's gonna happen to him," Angie continued.

"Hopefully he'll leave the worrying to us," Sam commented.

They continued walking, spending the next few blocks in the same silence as the first.

"We're gonna need to rent a car," Angie realized as they turned onto her street.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Well I don't have one, and yours is in the shop," Angie reminded.

"What about Dean's?"

Angie paused. "I guess I forgot about that one. It's just been in that garage so long…"

"It runs okay, right?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, as far as I know," Angie answered. She sighed. "Last time I rode in it was that night. The trip back from the hospital where you found me."

Sam nodded. He realized that his sister-in-law's feelings about driving in the Impala mirrored his for going into the church again. They were both going to have some things to deal with on this trip.

"So I guess it'll really be like old times," Sam said, trying to lighten the subject. "With the car and everything."

"Yeah. I guess," Angie answered. "Closest we can get now, anyway."

----------------------------------------------

Angie unlocked the garage's side door and walked in with Sam. "Here she is, perfect as always," Angie said as she walked around the side of the Impala. "God, I'm starting to sound like Dean," she realized. She opened the top drawer on a cabinet in the corner and rummaged around, finally finding the car keys after about a minute's search.

"Do you want to drive, or…"

"You can," Angie decided. She didn't offer any further explanation, and Sam didn't ask for one. He instead took the keys and walked around to unlock the trunk.

"Well this saves us a little time," he observed.

Angie was a bit surprised when she looked inside. "Geez, could you have at least _told_ me that you didn't take the weapons out of here?" she asked, shaking her head but slightly amused. "It's a miracle nothing ever went off."

"Sorry," Sam apologized. "But at least now we won't have to waste time running around to get stuff." He closed and re-locked the trunk, then got into the driver's seat. Angie followed him in.

"So how long is this drive gonna be again?" she asked, unconvincingly trying to take her mind off of where she was.

"I honestly can't remember right now," Sam admitted. "I just wanna get this over with."

"Agreed," Angie said. She took a deep breath and exhaled it, staring straight ahead out the car's front window.

"You okay?" Sam asked her.

"Yeah," Angie replied. "I just haven't been in here in a while, that's all."

"It'll get easier once we're driving," Sam assured. He put the key in the ignition, and the car started up with its familiar reliability and purr.

The radio, having never been switched off of Dean's classic rock station since it had last been used, came to life along with the engine.

_Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?_

_Then we wouldn't have to wait so long_

_And wouldn't it be nice to live together?_

_In the kind of world where we belong…_

"That's enough," Angie muttered, turning it off.

Sam looked over warily. She'd said she was okay, but he was still going to keep an eye on her. If a song on the radio about a happy relationship bugged her enough to turn it off after only four lines, then there was no telling how fragile she was right now. The car held a lot of memories for both of them, and it would always be tied to Dean.

---------------------------------------------

After what had seemed like an eternity driving in the ghost of huntings past, Sam and Angie finally reached what was left of St. Margaret's Church. Since it had already been an abandoned building long before that night when the mass sacrifice was attempted, little had been done to clean up place. If the walls hadn't still been standing, the only thing there would have been an immense pile of debris. After over a year, it was still ground zero.

As Sam and Angie entered the church, they were thankful that at least all of the bodies had been removed. Seeing ash, rubble, and even ceiling lying on the floor in giant chunks was haunting enough. For Angie, this was the first time she'd seen the inside of the place where her husband had been lost, but it was a chilling reminder for Sam. This was the last place he'd ever seen his brother. Walking through, he could still feel the smoke in his lungs and hear the tumult of that night ringing in his hears. He still wondered what would've happened if he and Dean hadn't been separated. Would Sam have met the same untimely fate as him or would they both have been able to escape? It was a thought that continued to haunt him.

"Do you see anything?" Sam asked.

"Not really," Angie replied. "What was here… before?"

"This floor was just a normal church, really," Sam explained. "But in the basement… they held meetings down there."

"Where's the entrance?" Angie asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Sam said, staring at the cluster of rubble before him. He knew he was going to have to move it if he had any chance of getting downstairs, so he bent down and got to work. Angie made her way over to help him, and eventually, they uncovered the basement door.

Angie wasted no time in getting a handgun out in anticipation, but she still asked Sam to go first. He agreed, and opened the door. After over a year of debris pressing against it, it cracked and splintered, eventually collapsing to the ground. Sam and Angie proceeded through the now empty doorway and started cautiously down the stairs.

The basement was nothing impressive. There wasn't anything left of the cult practices that had taken place there- no cryptic messages on the wall, nobody waiting to engage them in an all-or-nothing shootout. Simply, it was what they could expect from anybody who knew something about covering their tracks. They'd moved their base to somewhere else.

"So what do we do now?" Angie asked. "Where else can we look?"

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "They never said anything about operating anywhere else."

They both knew that there had to be something else they could do, somewhere else they could search- but right now they couldn't think. As expected, the failure and the realization that they'd relived this horror for nothing had dismayed them both.

"Are you sure there's nothing here? It's kind of dark…" Angie pointed out.

"I doubt they'd just leave something lying around like, 'Anyone who wants to stop us should look here,'" Sam pointed out.

Angie sighed. "Jake?" she called out as a last resort. "Jake?"

"Angie, he's not here," Sam said. "We're gonna have to think of something else-"

Before Sam could finish, Angie had turned around and ran back up the stairs to the ground floor. Puzzled, Sam followed. He stepped over the splintered remains of the door and walked out upon the wreckage again. From there he spotted Angie, kneeling down and furiously tearing away at bricks and wood in the middle of the church.

"Angie, what the hell are you doing?" Sam asked as he ran over to her.

She gave up her pointless act and looked up at Sam, her face and hands now spotted with soot. "I don't want to leave without accomplishing anything," she explained. "I guess I just figured… if I couldn't find Jake here, I might as well find Dean."

Sam sighed. It was true that his brother's body had never been recovered, but the police had searched the place thoroughly, multiple times, without finding anything. "The police have already combed through," Sam reminded. "I know there's a chance he could still be here… but would you really want to find that?" Angie thought about it, realizing more with every second how fruitless her little search had been. "I know you want closure. I don't blame you, especially now. But this isn't the way to deal with everything," Sam continued. "Dean's already gone. We have to focus everything on finding Jake now, or we'll lose them both," he reminded.

"I know," Angie said. "I just miss him so much. Him and Jake, they were the two people I loved the most." By now tears had begun to trickle down her face and make lines in the ash on her cheeks. "And now they're both gone. If I can't have both of them, I at least want one!" She paused. "I don't know if I can go on, without my son or my husband. The only way I'd survive… would probably be to end up like your dad. Always searching."

"You're not going to end up like that," Sam said, helping Angie to her feet. She was expecting another pep talk about strength and coping, but instead Sam just said, "I know you won't."

Angie nodded and dusted herself off. They headed outside. "Thank God we won't have to come back here again," Angie said. "It was freaking me out enough, but I can't even imagine what you must've felt in there."

"Honestly…" Sam started, searching around for the right words to convey just how much the church haunted, frightened, and pained him at the same time. "I never want to see this place again."

Angie looked at the expression Sam bore, upset by how disturbed it looked. Sam obviously wasn't as extroverted with his emotions as she was when he grieved, but he was suffering just the same. She wished there was some way she could comfort him- reliving that night in the church by coming here would make the painful memories stay with him for a while.

She tried to figure out if it was possible to demolish the building themselves, but seeing as they didn't have a wrecking ball with them, she knew there was no way. Instead she just suggested they get in the car and leave as soon as possible, and Sam seemed greatful that he didn't have to do anything else in the area.

"Not all of the Advocates got away, right?" Angie realized suddenly as they drove. "The police arrested some people that night."

"Yeah," Sam recalled. "At least eight of them, I think."

"Do you know which jail they're in?" Angie asked. "Maybe we can go ask if they know anything about Jake."

Sam searched his memory as they opened the Impala's doors and climbed in. "Well, I know where one of them is," he said.

A/N: I'll update soon, I promise! (writing this is my excuse not to do my summer PreCalculus work for school.)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I never quite understood how summer can be a time where you can lose track of the days and at the same time feel incredibly busy.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Are you ready to do this?" Sam asked Angie as they made their way through the prison's metal detectors.

"It's scary…" Angie admitted. "But I'd do anything if it means finding Jake."

The guard cleared them to proceed. They started down the hall, Angie about to face one of the key people behind Dean's death for the first time. As much as she tried to fight it, a queasy feeling rose in her stomach with every step she took.

"Ranson, look alive. You've got visitors," the guard informed as they reached the room at the end of the hall. A pale figure sat staring at the floor with a grim expression on his face. Although over a year in prison had obviously hardened him in some respects, it was evident that nineteen years old wasn't quite enough to call this disturbed boy a man.

Toby scoffed, more at himself than at his guests, as he lifted his head up. "Who the hell would want to visit-" he stopped as his eyes met Sam. "-me?" he finished, obviously recognizing the younger Winchester brother.

Angie moved slowly across the room. The prisoner, no matter how malicious he appeared to her, still possessed some vulnerable qualities. For a second, she wondered if Sam was wrong about the extent of this young man's involvement in the horror at St. Margaret's.

"Hello, Toby," Sam said. "We've got some questions to ask you."

Toby looked over at Angie. This woman hadn't taken her eyes off him since she and Sam had entered the room. He would have probably assumed she was just another detective or psychiatrist come for an interrogation, if it wasn't for the eerie way her piercing stare had the ability to send chills up his spine. Something in the back of his mind told him that he knew who this woman was, but he couldn't place her.

"Who's the chick?" he asked Sam. "She's kinda freaking me out."

"Sorry. I've just never seen one of you monsters in person before," Angie replied coldly.

Toby sighed. "Sam, I'm sorry about your brother, really I am. I… I didn't want to do it, you have to believe that. You don't know what Fay's like, how she demands everyone do what she wants. Or what she can do if you disobey her."

Sam's better judgment told him not to believe what he was saying. But still, he remembered Toby holding the bomb detonator in his hand that night. Although Fay was barking at him to set everything off, he had flinched. His eyes had told Sam that even though he'd known what he was getting into, he still hadn't realized what it was going to be like to have to kill dozens of people with the push of a button. Whether it was due to his age or maybe just his mentality, Toby still retained a conscience within him. Perhaps there was some truth behind what he was claiming after all.

Angie didn't agree with Sam, however. "Apologizing isn't going to change a damn thing," she reminded the prisoner.

Toby's eyes turned to the floor. Whoever this woman was, he knew she hated him, and he desperately wanted to find a way to avoid another painful remark. "Trust me, I know," he answered. "I… I killed dozens of people," Toby remembered, his voice wavering. "I could've said no. I had the power to save everyone. But I didn't. Now I'm going to rot in here, just because I was stupid and wanted to do something rebellious."

He paused to wipe his teary eyes, and put his head in his hands as he continued. "When I first joined, I had no idea what I was getting into. And once you're in, you can't get out. You have no idea how bad I feel about all of this," he said, looking up at Sam. "Your brother… he didn't deserve to die. None of them did. I'm so sorry."

"Where are the rest of you locked up?" Angie asked. "I'd like to get that apology from each and every one of you."

A look of recognition spread across Toby's face. Yes, he _had_ seen this woman before, and there was a reason why she made him feel so uncomfortable and guilty. When he'd first entered prison, she had been on the local news channel, distraughtly fighting off reporters and asking them to leave the families of the victims alone.

"Oh my God," he realized. "You're Dean's wife, aren't you?" Toby now felt even worse, knowing that two Winchesters were analyzing him. "Holy shit."

Angie could sense the onslaught of desperate penance. "Look, you can apologize for the next two hours if you want to," she said. "Or you can make up for it in two minutes by telling me where my son is."

"What?" Toby asked.

"Jake Winchester," Angie clarified. "I know the Devil's Advocates have him."

Toby searched his memory. "No, we never had any kids in that church," he informed.

"Not last year, last night," Angie said. "We saw one of you kidnap him."

"Look, I was one of the first people the police arrested at the church incident. I didn't even make it across the street before I got cuffed and put in a squad car," Toby asserted. "There were some others here at the beginning, but they've all either gotten the death penalty or been transferred to another prison. Besides them, I haven't had any contact with the Devil's Advocates for over a year," Toby explained. "I wasn't even sure they were still organized, and I certainly don't have any idea what they're up to."

He dared to look up and make eye contact with Angie again, and was no longer met with cold animosity. Rather, he was now staring into deep brown pools of despair. "I'm so sorry all of this happened to you," Toby said. "I can't imagine…"

"No, you can't," Angie agreed. "So do both of us a favor and don't try."

The room was silent for a moment. "So… what _do_ you know about the Devil's Advocates?" Sam asked.

"Not much," Toby admitted. "A few were arrested the same night as I was. More came later, after being fed up with Fay, leaving the whole plan behind, venturing out of hiding, and getting recognized from America's Most Wanted. They gave me the closest thing to current information, but by now it's old news."

"Tell us anyway," Sam encouraged.

"Alright, well…" Toby began, "They said Fay got more controlling than ever. See, her parents had been in some kinda cult like this one for her whole life, so she was basically born into all of this stuff. That's why she's been the leader, because she's always been so close to it all. Fay knows how to drill things into your brain, no matter what it is, until you believe it. Half of it's probably fear, though. I remember, when something went wrong, she knew how to punish us. But we knew she got it worse, because the Devil could communicate right to her. We'd always hear her screaming in agony or see her face contorted in pain… so obviously, the church incident was the biggest disappointment. They say Fay lost whatever she had left of a soul that night. He took it from her, and punished her through complete rejection. From then on, Fay turned everything into a mission to vindicate herself to the only master she's ever known. "

"Those who managed to escape the church and not get arrested… they knew the whole night had been a disaster. They took whatever surviving hostages they could and fled to some sort of secret location," Toby revealed. "The other Advocates who came later, they say Fay wants to do everything all over again, and make sure it all happens as it should next time. She's just waiting for the astrology to work out in her favor. In the meantime, she's become so cruel and controlling to everyone… it was just a matter of time before some decided it was better to run for it. Since the Devil wasn't projecting himself through her anymore, she couldn't do anything to stop them," Toby said. "Once they were out, they realized just how fucked up the whole thing was. Summoning the Devil? Trying to kill hundreds of people in order to do it? We were all monsters, all minions of Fay. And now, even if some of us aren't in jail, we have to deal with our consciences for the rest of our lives."

Sam and Angie stood there in silence for a minute, trying to absorb everything they'd just heard and wordlessly decode it for clues and information.

"The most recent person arrested, was he executed?" Sam asked.

"No," Toby answered. "He's serving his life term in Phoenix."

"What's his name?" Angie asked.

--------------------------------------------

"Jim Lindell?" the guard called. "Visitors for you."

A/N: Keep up the reviews, guys! I love them!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Gah! Up until today, FanFiction was telling me that instead of uploading this chapter, I was uploading an "empty document"... at first I thought my computer had wiped the whole thing. So I'm sorry I couldn't get this up sooner... I'm just glad it's working now!

The songs used are "Angie" by the Rolling Stones, and "I'm About To Come Alive" by Train.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Angie's stare wasn't as cold and penetrating as it had been during their last interrogation, on account of how long she'd been without sleep during their drive to Arizona. However, it still obviously had the power to make the prisoner uneasy.

"Do I know you from somewhere, man?" Jim asked Sam as they approached him.

"Well, if you don't know the face, you might recognize the name," Sam began, "Winchester."

Jim chuckled. "Well, well. What d'ya know? Guess you made it out of that church after all. Too bad I'm not still working for Fay. She'd love to spill your blood if she could get her hands on you."

"I'm sure," Sam said. "One thing I notice… all of you ex-advocates say you were working for Fay. What about the Devil?"

"You don't know much about Fay, do you?" Jim asked, shaking his head. "Guess not, from the way she lured you and Dean so easy last year." Angie's temper flared, but she suppressed it. "Personally I quit believing in the Satan aspect of the whole thing after a while. I mean sure, he might really exist, but I don't think any of us were there to serve him at all. All we did was answer to Fay as she 'spiraled into madness.' We were too afraid for our lives to try and rebel," Jim explained.

"Real bitch, huh?" Sam commented. Both he and Angie exchanged a glance after he'd said it- they both realized that it was a 'Dean comment.'

"Heh. Yeah," Jim answered. "She's weaker now than ever- mentally speaking, y'know? Since the Dark Lord started ignoring her, she's tried harder and harder to compensate… basically by acting like a dictator. She forces everyone to do her dirty work, like she's a queen or something. When we all know she's really just begging for scraps."

"But there can't be that many people left to do her dirty work, right?" Angie asked. "So many of you have been arrested."

"She just recruits new members to take our places," Jim answered. "Don't know how, since she doesn't exactly have real enticing arguments anymore. I'm sure 'I blew up a church full of people and it accomplished nothing' is a great selling point. Anyway, all I was really doing as an Advocate was just feeding someone's delusions. If Lucifer exists, I'm sure he's moved on to someone else trying to summon him. I really can't see something that powerful still relying on a woman who botched the most important part of the whole thing. That's why she's doing this again, gathering prisoners left and right. Fay craves retribution, whether another giant sacrifice would actually work or not."

Angie suddenly felt a dizzying wave of sickness come over her. She took deep breaths as she began to walk away from Sam and the prisoner.

Sam noticed her sudden change in behavior and rushed after her as she left the room. "Angie, are you okay?" he asked as he followed her out the door and closed it behind him.

Jim's eyes flashed at Sam's words. "Very interesting," he commented as he sat waiting for him interrogators to return.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sam asked as Angie sat down on a nearby chair.

"You heard him, didn't you?" Angie asked. "I suspected it before, but I tried to find some way to not believe it… now we know it's the truth." She looked up to meet Sam's eyes. "It's happening _all over again_. I knew it, I mean, why else would they take Jake? …I'm about to lose my son the exact same way I lost my husband."

Sensing her feeling of hopelessness, Sam sat down in the chair next to her. "Not if we can help it, okay? That's why we're here, to find out where Jake is and _rescue him_. We can travel three thousand miles looking for him, but we're not going to get very far unless you _believe_ that we can find him," he said. "We just have to ask Lindell a few more questions, and then we can get outta here. Alright?"

Angie nodded. "Yeah."

They stood up and headed back into the room to face the grizzled inmate.

"So where is Fay?" Sam asked. "More specifically, where are the prisoners?"

"I dunno," Jim replied. "Honestly. By now there have been so many deserters that Fay moves everyone and everything the moment one of us runs away. Just in case we feel like ratting her out. All I know is that she always picks somewhere unexpected or secluded, y'know? I guess that doesn't help much."

"Where was everyone last then?" Angie asked. "When you were still there?"

"This little hick town in Colorado," Jim informed. "I'll give you the address."

Sam nodded and passed him a pen and paper.

"It's not exactly an address, actually," Jim explained. "But I'll write down the closest thing to it. See, Fay had this idea that maybe she'd get more power or whatever by working out of an old coal mine. Something about all the minerals down there having spiritual qualities… Eh, I never much understood that kind of thing."

"Do you know anything about using children as sacrifices?" Angie asked as Jim wrote. "Is there any reason why they would try to do that?"

Jim shook his head. "There's no real 'extra power' or anything behind using children," he informed. "Wherever you got that, it's probably all just Hollywood legend. But I guess they could be kidnapping children if they feel like it. Maybe trying something new, I don't know. They weren't doing it before I left, anyway." He passed the pen and paper back to Sam. "You've got your work cut out for you, I'll tell you that," Jim said, looking at Angie.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Lindell," Sam said. He motioned for Angie to follow him as he walked over to the other side of the room.

"I don't know if we'll find anything in old strongholds. Especially one that was in a mine…" Sam reminded, glancing questionably at the address.

"Well, it's still worth a try," Angie said.

Just as they were about to leave, Jim began to sing. His voice was grizzled and purposely off-key, which had a very eerie effect. "_My Angie, my Angie_…"

Sam and Angie turned around to watch him. He was staring at the ceiling. "_When will those clouds all disappear? Angie,_ _Angie…_"

"What is he doing?" Angie asked warily.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"_Where will it lead us from here?_" Jim continued, not even paying attention to their interest.

"How does he know my name?" Angie wondered.

"Just because he's singing that doesn't mean he knows your name," Sam said. "He's just trying to bother us."

"_With no lovin' in our souls, and no money in our coats_…"

"Are you sure?" Angie asked warily, not taking her eyes off of the prisoner.

"He might've overheard us talking," Sam realized. "It doesn't mean anything except that he has good hearing. Come on, let's go." He took Angie's arm.

"Do you think he knows something?" Angie asked as they headed towards the door.

"_You can't say we're satisfied_…" the prisoner's voice haunted.

"Like what?" Sam asked. "He didn't even know I got out of that church alive. It's just a song."

"_But Angie, Angie_…"

"It's really freaking me out…" Angie said as Sam opened the door.

"Forget about it, that's exactly what he's trying to do," Sam reminded as he led Angie into the hallway.

"_You can't say we never tried_," Jim sang on.

Jim smirked as they left. Even if he had grown to disagree with the Advocates, it was still amusing to see the reaction of Dean's wife to the song Jim had heard him sing from his cell so many times…

---------------------------------------

Angie took a deep breath as the Impala bounced over yet another patch of rough pavement. She'd calmed down significantly since they'd left the prison, but her stomach still churned a little.

"Why would he do that, why would he sing that song?" she asked yet again.

"Angie, you have to let it go," Sam said. "It's not like he was placing a curse on you or anything, nothing bad's happened."

"I know, it's just…" she sat waiting to finish that sentence for a few moments, wondering whether she should share what she was thinking or keep it to herself. "Dean used to tell me that he listened to that song whenever he missed me."

Sam sighed. "Well he did, I'm not going to lie to you. When you guys decided that it wasn't going to work and we left you in Jersey, he would play it all the time. And of course, first we had to search every used record store to try and find that album on cassette so it could work in the car…" Sam began, reliving in his head all he had sat through during that time. Of course, he hadn't protested due to what his brother was coping with, but looking back, it had all been a very annoying process.

"Okay, I get it," Angie interrupted. "Sorry, but I have to say something." Sam obliged and stopped talking to listen to her. She took a deep breath and confessed what had been on her mind. "Do you think… maybe Jim knew Dean or something? I mean, what if he lived longer than we thought that night…"

"Angie, I get it. Believe me, there have been hundreds of times where I've been so furious about losing him that I just wanted to spend every moment hunting. Just to make sure the official reports about that night were correct," Sam admitted. "But where would that get me? I'd be just like my dad. Out on the road, probably getting by through credit card fraud again, never sleeping in my own bed, obsessed with 'what ifs,' lonely… Sarah would obviously leave me. It's not healthy."

Angie looked down at her feet. "I know…"

Sensing a "but…" about to continue that sentence, Sam returned to his monologue. "Even if it did end up being true. I mean, Dean would be kind of pissed that we didn't look for him, but he really couldn't blame us that much. He always kind of wanted the 'civilian life' that everyone else had- he just knew that hunting was more than his job. It was a duty, to everyone out there, to save people. It still is. But now the hunters are more organized. It's easier for each of us to live normally and still hunt," he reminded.

"I don't think I could live with the guilt," Angie admitted. "If I found out he hadn't died in the church… That's one of the reasons I never went looking for him. I wanted to, but I hadn't considered it for a while because my promise was to take care of Jake. I mean, that's the last thing he asked of me. I wasn't going to let him down. And then I wondered, what if I went out looking, and I actually found him somewhere? I honestly have no idea how he would react if I'd abandoned him for so long. For all I know, he could be furious. He could turn away from me because of it, he could…"

"…find your lack of faith disturbing?" Sam interrupted.

"Oh, way to go, nerd," Angie said. Even though Sam had made light about something that was haunting her mind, she couldn't help but laugh. She was afraid that if she thought too seriously about the matter, it would obsess her mind.

"Just remember, we're looking for Jake now. Not Dean," Sam restated. "And if by some twist of fate we actually find Dean… well then, we'll just have to beg for his mercy," he said through a smile which Angie returned.

_Maybe I'm not, but you're all I've got left to believe in_

_Don't give up on me, I'm about to come alive_

_I know that it's been hard and it's been a long time coming_

_Don't give up on me, I'm about to come alive…_

A/N: Tell me what you guys think of this one. As you could probably tell, there were some different elements to it, some of it that I decided to type in on a whim and then kept in, because it wasn't entirely terrible. Like the whole thing with Jim sort of liking to watch Angie squirm when he sang... that part I'm still not sure about. So, did you like it?


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Well at this point, I feel utterly ridiculous for promising shorter time between uploads, and then waiting a whole month. School was _way _more complicated than I thought it would be... and I wrote so many college application essays in the first few weeks that I was too sick of the keyboard to do any extra.

Then when I _did_ decide to upload the next chapter, I decided I didn't like it, and to change the whole thing. Which then led to an idea which changed most of the whole story after that, so I had to correct a lot of other stuff. _Hopefully_ I haven't gotten so confused in all of this that the chapter's ceased to make sense all together... but anyway, here it is, totally changed at the last minute! ;)

The changes centered on deleting Angie and Sam's actual exploration of the mine, because there was no way to do it without seeming really boring. And I didn't want to get into a giant bland cycle with every chapter. (Deathly Hallows, anyone?)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Angie shook her head. "I can't believe it," she said once again as they drove through the sleepy Colorado town.

"I know," Sam agreed. "We knew that we probably wouldn't find much, though."

"So then why were we stupid enough to go there in the first place?" Angie asked.

"Because we have no idea what else to do," Sam reminded. "We heard that the Advocates used to hide out in a coal mine, we went to investigate. There's nothing 'smarter' that we could've done."

"That's the problem," Angie said. She struggled through her rising anger and disappointment, which had mixed cruelly and saturated her other emotions. "I can see it now, dead end after dead end. It could be a pattern for years, and we have no way of getting out of it." She tried to wipe away the tear that had fallen from her eye discreetly enough so that Sam wouldn't see it.

"It might not turn out that way…" Sam said, trying to stay positive. "We could find something major within the next few days, you never know."

"Yeah, we never know. So we just end up doing this forever!" She didn't even try to hide her frustration with that outburst.

Sam tried not to believe Angie, but he knew she wasn't lying. That outcome _was_, unfortunately, entirely possible. He couldn't think of a way to respond to her, because now the grim prediction was rubbing off on him as well.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Angie said as she dried her eyes. "I just want to find my son."

Sam realized the extent of his sister-in-law's momentary despair and pulled off the road into the nearest parking lot. He stopped the car and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know, Angie. It's… I'm here for you," Sam said. He had planned to reassure her with 'it's okay,' but under the circumstances, that wouldn't have fooled either one of them.

Angie looked like she was beginning to calm down, but not enough so that she could respond yet.

Sam looked up and realized that they had pulled over in the parking lot of a diner. "We're both stressed right now. What do you say we talk about this over some coffee?"

"Okay," Angie nodded, drying her eyes and getting out of the car.

------------------------------

"Can we get a table for two, please?" Sam asked as they stepped through the diner's doorway.

The waitress diligently grabbed two menus. "Follow me," she said as she led them to a booth.

As she sat down, Angie noticed someone grabbing a mop to take care of some mud on the floor. Looking down and her and Sam's shoes, she realized that their trek through the cave had left their feet thoroughly caked.

"Sorry," she apologized to the man as he scrubbed. "This was such a bad idea," she said again as she turned back to Sam.

"You've gotta stop dwelling on it. Jim Lindell gave us a list of all the other arrested Advocates. We can interview them, and who knows what information they'll give us? It may seem like it now, but we haven't hit a dead end yet," Sam reminded.

Angie nodded. "Before we interview anyone though, I think we need to buy some new shoes," she commented.

Sam laughed as he looked at his. "Yeah," he agreed.

The waitress returned to their table, where she took their orders and returned with two cups of coffee and some creamer. They sat in silence for a while as they drank, both thinking of the task at hand.

"Sam…" Angie said finally, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, puzzled at the question.

"I just dragged you across multiple states to prisons, churches, and caves," Angie continued. "And as you just pointed out, we've still got a lot of work to do."

"Angie, you don't want to give up, do you?" Sam asked incredulously. He didn't believe at all that she was really proposing turning around and heading back to California.

"No, _I_ don't," Angie clarified. "I'm talking about _you_."

"I don't want to give up either!" Sam stated, surprised that Angie was seemingly accusing him of treason.

"I know you don't want to," Angie said, "But you've got other things in your life. You're going to be a father in what, eight months? I'm not Sarah, but I can guess that's she'd probably prefer you home preparing for your kid over searching the country for your nephew."

"Angie, don't…"

"You shouldn't have to be out here driving around with your sister-in-law when you have more important responsibilities."

"So nothing outside of my wife and child are my responsibility?" Sam asked Angie, who didn't respond.. "You think I never promised Dean anything? He cared about his family more than anything else in the world. If you've been assuming he never asked anyone to take care of you guys, then you're dead wrong."

"Sam, he asked you that?" Angie wondered, stunned.

"Of course. I'm sure I probably asked him a few things that night too, we were both so scared," Sam answered. "The point is, I'm not annoyed about traveling around out here. I want to find Jake, just like you do."

"Sam, if what Dean said is the only reason you're here…"

"It's not," Sam interjected. "And anyway, I talked to Sarah last night. She's happy doing all of the planning by herself right now, because we're not bickering over cribs and color schemes."

"Yeah, right _now_," Angie said. "We don't know how long this is gonna take us. And like you said, she would leave you if you ended up living on the road."

"Which I'm not doing right now," Sam reminded. "We've only been away for a few days. Sarah knew when she married a Winchester that there's always gonna be a time when I'm away from home. And it's not like she doesn't care about Jake. She knows I'm out here for a very good reason," Sam explained. "I'll let you know if I think I've been away too long. Okay?"

"Okay," Angie nodded. "Just be honest."

"I will, don't worry," Sam said as he finished his coffee. "Now, we've got some people to question."

They paid for the coffee and walked out to Dean's car.

As they exited, a shrewd-looking man in the booth behind where they'd been sitting moved his eyes from his newspaper to the window to watch their every step. As Angie and Sam got into the Impala, he shook his head and returned his attention to his newspaper.

"Fay's not gonna like this," he muttered.

A/N: Obviously, I'm not a good promise-keeper, so... I will _try very hard_ to update soon.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I updated quicker!!! (This time it's more of a way to avoid writing a Chemistry paper.) lol.

The song used (in case you didn't get it) is "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Dean tapped his foot on the concrete floor in time with the tune in his head. "_I hear the train a-comin', it's rollin' round the bend. And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when_," he sang, "_I'm stuck in Folsom Prison, and time keeps draggin' on_… your turn!" he shouted to Jake, who was enjoying this sing-along just as much as his dad was.

"_But that train keeps a-rollin'_…" Jake continued in a comically low voice, "_On down to San Antone_."

"Alright!" Dean grinned. "Guitar solo!" He then preceded to hum along as he played air guitar.

"Fay?" David shouted as he passed through the halls of prisoners. "Fay, I need to speak with you!" He realized that no one would be able to hear him over Dean's fake guitar, which had purposely gotten louder when Dean saw the man walking past him. David turned around and directed his yelling at the Winchesters instead. "Would you cut that out!? In case you forgot, you're in prison right now!"

"We didn't forget," Dean answered. "I mean, that's the song. 'Folsom Prison Blues.' Kinda reminds you that you _are_, in fact, in prison…"

David glared at him through the bars. "Just shut up and go back to being miserable like everyone else."

"Aw, c'mon, you'll spoil the family reunion," Dean replied, winking at his son.

"David?" the familiar heated female voice called from somewhere down the hall. "If you're going to talk to me, then it would probably be wise to come here!"

"Yes, Fay," David said, immediately abandoning his argument with Dean.

Although they were a distance away, Jake and Dean could still clearly hear the two Advocates' conversation.

"I surveyed the town of our last headquarters like you requested," David said.

"And? Did any of the townspeople realize we had been there, or are they simply as stupid as they look?" Fay asked.

"Well, the townspeople, no… but someone's looking for us," David answered.

Fay's head turned immediately. "Who?" she asked, now paying complete attention.

David gulped, anticipating Fay's heated reaction. "The Winchesters."

"What?" Fay asked, fresh anger in her voice. She rushed towards David, staring into his eyes to make sure he wasn't tricking her.

"Dad, did you hear that?" Jake asked exitedly.

Dean nodded. "Shh. We should listen to this."

David squirmed uncomfortably under Fay's glare. "I overheard them talking," he explained.

"Did they see you?" Fay asked.

"No."

"Why were they there?"

"From what I gathered, they're searching the country for the boy."

"You were right. They _are _looking for us!" Jake whispered.

"Yeah, they are," Dean answered. He had already been grinning, overjoyed at the possibility of seeing his wife and brother again.

Fay sighed. "This _might _not have happened if Simon had been smart enough to get the right Winchester…" she muttered. "Well, how did they know about the mine?"

"Apparently they spoke with Jim. Also, I heard that he gave them a list of other traitors," David said, referring to the Advocates who had ran away.

Fay cursed. "Enough of letting the prison system deal with them then," she said.

David looked at her, confused about her motives. "We don't want any information whatsoever leaking to our enemies," she clarified, visibly annoyed at his stupidity. "So you, and whoever else it takes, will do away with the imprisoned traitors."

"All of them?" David asked.

"Well unless you have the specific names on Jim's list," Fay pointed out. She noticed that David had a nervous look on his face. "They _betrayed_ us. Just because you once knew them doesn't make them any less deserving of execution."

"Y-Yes, Fay," David answered loyally.

"And we'll have to change locations," Fay continued.

"Again?" David asked before he could catch himself.

Fay glared at him. "_Yes_, _again._ Or would you rather the Winchesters find where we are and swarm us?"

"N-no, Fay," David stuttered.

"We have to cover every trace. Precautions are necessary if we want our plan to work this time," Fay continued. "Do you need reminding of what we're doing all this for? Is waiting for ultimate power growing tedious for your low level of patience?"

"No, Fay. I'm sorry."

"You're lucky you brought valuable information… or I might not let you simply walk out of this room without punishment for your attitude."

"Thank you, Fay," David said, bowing his head as he left.

"Tell everyone we're leaving immediately," Fay called after him.

David turned around. "Now? We haven't chosen a new location."

"I already know of one," Fay answered. "The Weslan facility. An abandoned warehouse in Nevada that never quite managed to get itself sold out of my family."

"Yes, Fay," David said.

"Weslan facility…" Dean repeated. He'd never heard of it, but this was the first time he'd ever found out where they were transporting him to. The past year for him was a series of being locked up in place after place with no clue what or where the outside world was.

Jake smiled. "Mom and Uncle Sam are going to rescue us," he said confidently.

Dean nodded, not entirely sure if it was just to acknowledge what his son had said or if he truly believed also. They heard voices down the hall of people being ordered out of their cells.

"Oh, better not forget this," Dean muttered, remembering at the last minute to not leave something. He reached over to a spot in the corner and picked up a tiny stone.

"What do you want a rock for?" Jake asked, puzzled at what his dad deemed important cargo.

"You two, on your feet! We're leaving!" an Advocate shouted as she pointed to them.

Dean stealthily slipped the rock into his pocket and stood up. "I'll tell you later," he whispered to Jake as the door of their cell was opened.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Is everyone getting their story alerts? I know this isn't exactly the best place to ask, because if you aren't, you probably wouldn't be reading this... Anyway, someone told me a few weeks ago that she hadn't been getting her alerts, and I've been getting less reviews than usual lately. I just want to make sure people aren't out of the loop.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"_Wow_, hotel coffee is good," Angie commented. Not entirely keen on returning to the old cycle of dingy motel rooms, she had convinced Sam the night before to stay in something a little more sanitary for once. They had spent the two days before taking turns on the long drive to a prison in Texas, the location of one of the Advocates on Jim's list. So, if Sam had possessed any qualms against their current location, he had been too tired to voice them.

"I'm actually kind of surprised that you and Dean never stayed in one before," Angie continued. "Credit card fraud certainly means you could've afforded it."

"Shh," Sam reminded, looking up from the newspaper he'd been flipping through. Luckily, the only other people in the lobby were a group of businessmen engrossed in their stock shares. "Anyway, as weird as it sounds, we basically grew up in motels. I think Dean kind of thought of them as home."

Angie chuckled. "Makes sense. You should've seen how amazed he was on our honeymoon that there was _breakfast_ downstairs."

Sam laughed, imagining his brother standing at a buffet and stuffing his mouth with mini muffins.

"Yeah, it was revolutionary for him," Angie commented. "Disappointing though, for the wife who had expected room service…"

Sam's expression changed suddenly. "Oh no," he said.

Angie gave him an odd look. "It wasn't _that_ big of a deal."

"No, not that," Sam answered. "Read this." He turned the newspaper around so she could see, and pointed at the headline that said, 'Holy massacre?'

Angie's eyes widened almost immediately. The paper this morning contained a report on how every member of the Devil's Advocates currently imprisoned had been mysteriously killed the day before. The murders had occurred in several different jails, and none of the prisons' security guards had seen anything. Surveillance cameras had somehow been wiped, and police had no leads. Worse, various community members were taking the side of the unknown killers, saying it was vengeance against "these heathens."

She looked at Sam in despair when she finished the article. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Sam took out Jim's list and lined it up next to the paper's list of causalities. "It's like an exact copy," he said in disbelief.

"With one difference," Angie pointed out, "Jim wasn't on his own list." Admittedly, she was upset to hear that he had been killed, despite the way he'd scared her. That same action had been what led Angie to believe that Jim knew something about Dean. Now, she could never ask him… nor anyone else.

"The surveillance cameras were wiped…" Sam observed as he read through the article again. Both he and Angie realized something at the same time.

"That's what happened when Jake was kidnapped," Angie said. Sam nodded. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that these killers aren't holy men at all…" Sam realized. "They're the Advocates themselves."

"They killed their own people?" Angie asked.

"Well technically, the ones in jail had already left Fay's regime…" Sam reminded sarcastically.

"But if they wanted to kill their deserters, they had plenty of time to do it before now," Angie said. "Unless they're part of that major sacrifice…" Now she was worried that other people had been killed as well.

Sam shook his head. "I think it's too soon for that."

"Well then why now?" Angie asked. She realized that they no longer had a next move planned out in their search. "It's like they knew we needed to talk to these people."

Sam raised his eyebrow at her comment. "Maybe they did," he realized. "Maybe they're spying on us."

"What?" Angie asked. She immediately turned to observe the businessmen again, who looked thoroughly uncomfortable under the Winchesters' second scrutiny.

"It makes sense," Sam continued. "They had to know when they took someone from our family… we were gonna go hunting."

"So how do we know where they are?" Angie asked, feeling like there were hidden eyes upon her.

"We don't," Sam answered.

"Really not what I was hoping you would say!" Angie commented.

"Well hold on, let's think…" Sam said. "Where have we talked about what we're doing in public?"

"Nowhere, really…" Angie answered, struggling to recall them talking somewhere other than the Impala. "Wait," she suddenly remembered, "The diner. In Colorado."

Sam nodded. "Someone could've been in there."

"Damn it," Angie said. "I'm sorry, Sam."

"It's my fault too. I figured none of them stuck around if the mine was abandoned," Sam commented. "We're just gonna have to be more careful from now on."

"I shouldn't have said so much," Angie apologized again. "We talked about _everything_. Jim… the list… the mine… our plans… Sarah…"

Sam drew in his breath. He looked up at Angie with a sudden sense of fear. "You… you don't think… I mean, if they wanted your kid, then…"

"Call her," Angie said, practically ordering.

Sam pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed, his hand shaking with each ring.

"Hello?"

"Sarah?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Oh hey, Sam. You're calling kind of early, aren't you?" Sarah asked, yawning.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "You're okay."

"I'm fine… what's going on?" Sarah wondered.

"Has anything unusual happened?"

"Like what?" Sarah asked. She was too well-acquainted with paranormal activity to take Sam's question lightly.

"Well… has anyone tried to break in or anything?" Sam clarified.

"No," Sarah asked. Now she was worried. "Why?"

"Just be on your guard. Maybe go to a friend's house for a while. I'm coming home," Sam said.

"Sam, you're scaring me," Sarah said.

"I know, I know, but you have to do what I say. You might be in danger."

"Danger?" Sarah asked warily.

"Call me back when you're out of the house and I'll explain. Just please, I want you to be safe," Sam said, practically begging.

"Alright. I'll leave as soon as I can," Sarah agreed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Sam hung up. "She's alright," he said, relieved. Then he added "For now," knowing that she could still be at risk. Angie was speechless. Sam realized that he'd told Sarah he was heading home. "I have to make sure…"

"I know," Angie said. "Come on."

They rushed to gather their things and check out, thankful that they'd gotten one night of sleep before starting another endless drive.

A/N: I'll update soon. Actually right now I'm making a Supernatural fanvid... I'll post a link when I'm done with it. Hopefully it will turn out as funny as I'm imagining it to be.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I'm not dead!!!! I was in the hospital. Routine appendicitis which turned out to be not so routine after all. Then with all the schoolwork I had to make up... I just caught up on everything yesterday, so hopefully I can update quickly from now on. Sorry for making everyone wait so long, and equally sorry for this being such a short chapter to come back with. I'll post the next chapter at the same time, to make up for the huge gap.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sarah paced restlessly in front of the window, checking every time she turned around to see if the black Impala had pulled up yet. After Angie had explained over the phone that someone might want to kidnap her, it was almost impossible to calm down. She had relocated to a friend's house far enough away that it was unlikely for any of the Advocates to find her, but she was still uneasy. In fact, something about waiting around anxiously in an unfamiliar setting had a very adverse affect on Sarah- there were none of her familiar things around to occupy her racing mind with, and she wondered if maybe Sam wouldn't be able to find the house.

She let out a deep sigh of relief as she finally saw the car arrive. Rushing outside, she was immediately embraced by Sam. Being near him again did a great deal to erase her fears.

"Sarah!" Sam exclaimed, relieved. "Thank God you're okay." He had broken the speed limit for the entire drive, all too familiar with the consequences when someone falls into the Advocates' grasp.

"I'm so glad you're here," Sarah replied. "After what Angie said to me…" She looked over at her sister-in-law, who had chosen to remain silent while Sam and Sarah were greeting each other.

"We're sorry we had to worry you like that," Sam apologized. "But right now, we really don't know anything about where we're safe and where we're not. This car's so conspicuous, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was trailing us right now."

"So we're still in danger?" Sarah said apprehensively, placing a hand on her stomach. Above all, she didn't want anything to happen to her baby.

"Well, I'll take the car when I leave," Angie explained. "So if anyone is following it, they'll stick to me."

"When you leave?" Sarah asked, confused. This part hadn't been explained to her on the phone.

"I'm gonna stay here for a little while, and Angie's going to continue searching," Sam said. "You can't risk being by yourself until we know that no one's after you."

Sarah looked at Angie sympathetically. "You don't need help out there?" she asked, making sure her own well-being wasn't taking precedence over her nephew's.

Angie shook her head. "We decided this was the best arrangement. And anyway, it's my search. I just dragged Sam into it, which wasn't fair to either of you. You deserve to be together right now."

"Angie, we all care about Jake…" Sarah said. "If you need something, don't be afraid to ask just because you want to see us happy. I think your son is a little more important."

"I won't get in over my head. Don't worry," Angie said. "But for now, I can do this myself."

Sarah gave a weak smile, still not sure whether her sister-in-law was being sincere or just polite. She walked up to Angie and stretched out her arms, hugging her goodbye. "Good luck out there," Sarah said. "I really hope you find him."

Angie nodded. "You guys stay safe." She turned and headed back to the Impala, waving before she opened the door and got in. "Bye."

Sam and Sarah waved back as they watched her drive off.

"I feel so guilty," Sarah admitted.

"Don't blame yourself," Sam said. "She's been telling me to go home for weeks. I'm not sure if she really wants to be alone or not, but I know she doesn't like ruining someone else's life with her problems." They turned to head inside the house. "I just hope she's okay out there."


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: For anyone who might've clicked straight to this chapter, I just posted a previous chapter about two minutes ago which also explains why I was gone for so long. So read that one first, or you'll be lost. :P

I know a Christmas chapter seems really out of place, but back when I wrote it, I'd anticipated having it online right around Christmas. The song used is "River" by Joni Mitchell.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

_Two Months Later_

Angie stared bleary-eyed at the map in front of her. It was littered with thumbtacks, each one representing a place she'd investigated that turned up nothing. She was hoping that maybe each one had been chosen for its specific position, perhaps around some kind of power source, and she could use the pattern to predict the Advocates' current location.

However, as she examined the colored dots in front of her, they looked more like chicken pox than pentegrams. Frustrated, she shoved it aside for later. Although she knew it was pointless to get angry at inanimate objects, it was the only emotion she could express that didn't lead straight to the sinking feeling that she was really coming to a dead end.

That feeling had been a familiar one to her for the last two months. In fact, it was almost miraculous that she'd managed to get a string of obscure clues that kept her investigating _this_ long. Since all of the prisoners had been killed, Angie had had to figure out new and much more ingenious ways of theorizing and getting information. The map had come about as a result of her latest brainstorm, even though she had known it probably wouldn't yield anything.

She'd now come to sympathize with Dean on an entirely different level. For what seemed like forever, she'd been a nomad; traveling nearly the entire country and living completely alone. Remembering how Sam had gone off to college and left his brother to do the hunting, Angie now knew just how hard it was to drive around all the time, with absolutely no one there to talk to.

She was almost relieved when her cell phone rang, even though she saw on the Caller ID that it was Sam. She knew he would have questions as to how her search was going, and she had no idea what sort of lie she could make up to sound like there had been some kind of progress.

"Hello?" she said as she answered.

"Hey Angie," Sam replied. "How's everything going?"

"Uhh… alright," Angie said, hoping the vague response would buy her time to construct a better lie.

"Well, listen…" Sam began. "Sarah and I have been thinking, if you're not on the verge of a major breakthrough or anything… maybe you should come and spend Christmas with us."

Angie was completely dumbfounded by this. She hadn't been expecting a charity offer at all.

"I know you would feel guilty about not looking for Jake," Sam said, "But you've been at it alone for two months. You really should take a break before you lose it."

Sam hadn't returned at all to hunting since he'd left to protect Sarah. At first, he would say that everything was going fine, and he should be coming back soon. But then, as Angie figured, he realized how important it was to be home when starting a family, and decided to stay. Angie didn't blame him- she was glad that at least one Winchester was managing a normal life.

"After the holidays, I can come back on the road with you," Sam offered. "It might not be as stressful that way."

Angie almost blurted out that there would be nothing for him to do, but she caught herself. "Sam, don't feel like you have a duty to keep helping me," she said. "Sarah's going to have a baby in six months- you're supposed to be there for her. I understand."

"Well, come for Christmas at least," Sam answered.

Angie sighed. "Thanks, Sam, but… I can't sit around a tree and relax knowing Jake's out there somewhere. It's _really _thoughtful of you to offer, but I won't be able to enjoy Christmas just because I'm off the road. …The truth is, I can't be happy until I find out what happened to my son," she explained.

"Are you sure..." Sam asked.

"Yes," Angie answered before Sam could add any other comment to entice her into changing her mind. "When you're at home, you're close to the people you love. It's opposite for me. The more I'm out looking, the closer I am to the people _I _love. No break from hunting's gonna change that."

"Alright," Sam said after a long pause. "But anyway, we got you a gift, and I'd feel better if you'd at least come to pick it up."

Angie nodded. "I guess I can do that."

--------------------------------------

When Angie arrived at Sam's house, he and Sarah came outside to meet her. She took this as an opportunity to not get out of the car, because going inside meant talking, and more offers to stay, and more explanations of how she simply couldn't.

"Hi, Angie," Sam said as he walked up to the car.

"Hi guys," Angie replied. "Everything going okay?"

"Fine," Sarah said. "I have to admit, I'm glad you made Sam stay with me for a while. I didn't realize how hard going through this pregnancy thing alone was until I had my support system back."

Angie nodded with an I-told-you-so smirk. "You're welcome."

Sarah laughed. "He _can_ come back to help you though, if you change your mind. By now I consider myself out of danger."

"Like I said, if I need him, I'll ask. But I'm okay now."

Sam nodded, though still not totally in agreement with the idea of Angie out there by herself in such an emotional situation. "Anyway, here's what you came for," he said, holding out a small rectangular package wrapped in holly leaf paper. "It's not much, but…"

"Don't worry about it," Angie said with a smile. "Mine isn't either." She handed Sarah what she was pretty sure they all knew to be a box of chocolates… Angie had been completely caught off-guard when Sam said they'd gotten her something, and had no time to look for anything meaningful to give them in return. But, Sarah smiled politely anyway.

"Now, are you sure you don't want to stay for Christmas?" she persisted. "You're always welcome…"

"Trust me, I feel better out on the road," Angie said, placing a hand on the steering wheel of the Impala. As she did, she got a sickening feeling that this vehicle which had served as Dean's home for so long would be the closest she would ever get to the way things used to be. "You guys just have a Merry Christmas, alright?"

"We'll try," Sam said.

"Happy holidays, Angie," Sarah smiled warmly.

"Happy holidays," Angie replied as she started the car.

She waved as she pulled out of the driveway, trying to block out the sinking feeling that she'd just drove away from the only family she had left.

_It's comin' on Christmas_

_They're cuttin' down trees_

_They're puttin' up reindeer _

_And singin' songs of joy and peace_

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on…_

_Well, it don't snow here_

_It stays pretty green_

_I'm gonna make a lot of money_

_Then I'm gonna quit this crazy scene_

_I wish I had a river I could skate away on_

_I wish I had a river so long_

_I would teach my feet to fly…_

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on._


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Yay, I finished a seven-page paper for school! Now I only have... another 7-page paper for another class. :(

Is this chapter too sentimental? I thought it would be nice, but reading over it again, I'm wondering if maybe it's unnecessary? And yet again, it's set at Christmas time because I missed out on a few months of life last year. :P

I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Ma'am, it's Christmas Eve," the librarian said, trying her hardest not to sound rude. "We have to close up for the holidays."

Angie sighed. "Okay. Sorry for the inconvenience." She closed her book, breaking the trance it had kept her under for the past few hours. She had combed every page meticulously, hoping that it contained _something_ of use.

"You can check the book out if you'd like," the librarian reminded. She'd obviously noticed how engrossed in it Angie had become.

Angie shook her head. "It didn't have what I was looking for, anyway," she said as she placed it back on its shelf. "Just another dead end."

"Sorry," the librarian sympathized. "Maybe one day you'll find what you need."

"Maybe," Angie nodded. It was a mandatory response. She knew the woman's encouraging words weren't true- the fact that she had stopped searching the internet and tried her luck at a random library today was already a sign that she was moving backwards.

Besides, the mere shreds of information she had been uncovering lately weren't what she really needed- that desire was to have her family back. As much as she had managed to go on without Dean, she knew as she walked out to the parking lot that nothing would ever be the same again without him. The best she could do now was pray for her son's return, but unless Dean came back from the dead, something would always be missing.

Angie tried to brush the feeling off by telling herself that life was like that for everyone- something was always missing. But sitting down in Dean's empty car only reinforced her sadness.

She looked over at the glove compartment, remembering Sam's still-wrapped gift. So far she'd neglected to open it, but she figured that for tonight, she had nothing better to do. Angie took it out and began to tear at the wrapping. She felt incredibly guilty about her own gift when she didn't find Hershey's Pot of Gold inside- instead, there was a note and another wrapped package to open.

She read the card:

_Angie,_

_Christmas has been hard for all of us these last two years. Though we all miss Dean and hope for Jake's return, we have to remember that there is also much to look forward to. I'm not writing this to tell you to stop hunting- it's a true testament of your love to search so ruthlessly for Jake. However… I have to admit that I'm starting to get worried. It would be terrible to see you doing this sort of thing for life. I don't want you to end up like my father. _

_Because there's so much you can do, so much you can contribute, just by being an ordinary citizen. I know it sounds boring, but please just consider it. Promise me that when you begin to hit dead ends out there, you'll think about coming back. Although I can't even imagine what it's like to feel as though you're giving up on your son, we both have to realize that it could eventually lead to that. And I know Jake would be so grateful that you've spent this much time looking for him. But both he and Dean wouldn't want to see you searching forever, missing out on… well, your life._

_I sent you this stuff as a reminder of all the good things you had. It's best that we all focus on memories- specifically the happy moments, not lamenting over never getting that moment again. Heck, I'm the psychic, and I don't even know what the future holds. Just don't waste the whole thing out there._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Sam_

_P.S.: These pictures were taken with an old camera of Sarah's that she just discovered still had undeveloped film inside. They might be a little faded, but hopefully this'll be a nice change from the same old, same old in our photo albums._

_And I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell what the video is. _

Angie wasted no time in unwrapping the next package. Her eyes instantly met Dean's, smiling at the camera and looking very proud as he held his son- Jake only looked about a month old in these photos.

The next one was Dean laying down on the floor in order to be on the same level as Jake, who was reclined on his baby blanket surrounded by stuffed animals and plastic blocks. Dean was holding a blue elephant over Jake, whose little arm was out stretched as he tried to take it from his dad. They both were wearing wide grins.

She was starting to wipe tears off of her face by the time she got to the third picture, her holding a spoon full of baby food out to Jake's goop-covered mouth. And the fourth one was her beaming very close to the camera- nothing was visible but her head and Jake in her arms. She was holding his hand up, no doubt to simulate that the little boy was waving at his Aunt Sarah behind the camera.

Actually, soon-to-be Aunt Sarah… Angie remembered that Sam had only recently gotten engaged to her at that time. But Angie and Sarah had felt like family for years, and they both had known that Sam would eventually come around and ask Sarah to marry him. None of them, however, had predicted that he would do it as spontaneously as he did- Angie remembered that it was right after Jake had been born. Sam rushed into the hospital room to see his brand new nephew, and Sarah had come along because they'd been on a date when Dean called. He only had to look at Angie, Dean, and Jake for a few seconds before suddenly turning around and dropping to one knee, proclaiming that he wanted that same sort of future with Sarah.

Angie realized with a smirk that the Winchester brothers definitely seemed to share the trait of spontaneity when it came to marriage. It had been two years, Angie recalled, since Dean had come and taken her back from New Jersey, before he'd suddenly realized that they'd probably be traveling and hunting together for years to come and decided that maybe a ring was a good way to show how much he appreciated that relationship.

Unfortunately, he'd dropped and lost the ring. Angie remembered with a laugh that the whole thing had been a major fiasco- and she still said yes. It hadn't mattered to her how romantic or unromantic Dean's proposal had turned out to be… it was uniquely Dean, and that was what she loved.

As she came to a picture of Dean sitting in the Impala's driver's seat, holding Jake in his lap and pretending to drive with him (although they were obviously just in the driveway), the memories of just how much she'd loved Dean came over her again. She had to put down the pictures for a few minutes to compose herself.

Looking down, she picked up the videotape this time instead of the stack of pictures. As soon as she read the side label, she instantly burst out laughing. This was it, the tape Dean had always hated with such a passion. It was the footage of him changing Jake's diaper for the first time that Sam had always so proudly hidden from his brother… although he was never shy about reminding him of the event, as a tease. Angie would have to make sure the next motel she stayed in had a VCR.

She started up the Impala. Even though she was crying, Sam had been right- the power of such happy photographs had, indeed, raised her spirits.

A/N: btw, I have been toying with the idea of making the story of Dean's proposal mentioned here into a one-shot standalone fic. The only obstacle is that I still can't decide whether it's good or not!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Apologies, I kind of didn't realize how many random chapters I had in a row, since I wrote this entire story out of order. Promise the next one won't be filler though.

I really can't write anything up here this time without giving some of the chapter away, so I'll just let you read it...

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Angie waited a while in the car before getting out to venture into the building in front of her. After all, she wasn't exactly friendly with the woman inside. But that woman also had connections with more hunters than Angie would ever know. She clung to the hope that perhaps one of them, just one, had passed through here and said something unfamiliar about the Advocates. Angie took a deep breath as she walked towards the building, anticipating being greeted with the same jealousy-fuelled rudeness that she had been the last time.

There were only a few patrons inside when she walked in, and most, if not all of them, were hunters. In this place, you rarely had to worry about what people would think if you started talking about demons. Angie sat down at the bar.

"What can I get you?" a familiar voice asked a man sitting nearby. She had yet to recognize Angie there.

"Hey, Jo," Angie said, catching her as she turned to place a glass back on the shelf.

"Angie," she recognized, deciding instead to put the glass down on the nearest surface and walk over. "What are you doing here?" she asked, wondering what had possessed someone who hadn't been here in nearly a decade to show up.

"Looking for some information," Angie answered. "I figure, there's so many hunters that come through here. If you don't know something, no one does."

Jo could tell from Angie's tone of voice that whatever she needed, she had been looking for it for a long time.

"What about?" Jo asked.

"The Devil's Advocates."

Jo diverted her eyes and looked down at the bar. "Oh," she said, caught off-guard by the subject. It was obvious that word of Dean's death had spread all throughout the hunter community. "No. Nothing relevant," Jo answered sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Angie sighed. Jo could see how downtrodden that answer had made her, and decided to say something else before she started lamenting. "Angie… tell me you're not _still_ out here looking for Dean…"

Angie shook her head. "No," she answered.

Jo gave a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "I'd be worried if you'd been out on the road for a full year and a half."

"No, I- wait, you'd be worried? About _me_?" Angie asked. After all, this was the woman who had so openly scorned her upon discovering what she meant to Dean. Jo had been wanting that from him for a long time.

"I know, shocking, considering last time we saw each other," Jo said. She took out a bottle and started to pour into two glasses. "Which I am sorry about. It's not your fault Dean loved you. Love isn't anyone's fault, anyway. _I'm _the one to blame, because I even though I liked him so much, I knew I could never make him like me. I guess I'm just jealous by nature. But when I heard about Dean… It was hard enough for me when my dad died. I can't imagine losing a husband. It just erased every hard feeling I've ever had towards you. To go through that… You've gotta be strong. I really respect you, Angie."

Angie scoffed at the idea of being respectable as she took one of the drinks from Jo. "I'm not so sure about that. I haven't even told you why I'm out here."

"Why?" Jo asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Angie took a deep breath. "They have my son," she elaborated. "Kidnapped him, right in the schoolyard."

"Oh my God," Jo said, "How long has he been missing?"

"Three months," Angie answered. "And the only information I found out from all the dead ends that I've taken is that he's probably to be sacrificed for their cause. Just like Dean was," Angie paused to take a drink and try to keep her composure. "So… if I haven't wasted enough time already, and Jake's actually still alive, that doesn't change the fact that I have no way of finding him."

Jo wasn't sure how to answer at first. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Has Sam been searching too?"

"He went around with me for a little while," Angie said. "But he's got his own things to be concerned about. I mean, his wife's having a baby. I couldn't ask him to forget about them and keep driving around on a wild goose chase." Jo nodded, listening intently. "So now I'm _alone_ on a wild goose chase. And I just exhausted my last possibility." Angie took another drink from her glass, obviously exasperated.

"I'm sorry that I haven't heard anything," Jo apologized.

"That's okay," Angie said. "I wasn't expecting much. Hey, at least I finally got a chance to talk to someone. Being alone on the road out there… I think it makes me miss Dean even more. So many times I've turned to talk to him, out of habit." She said it with a light smile, but it was obvious that the behavior saddened her.

"Well memories are good, though. Even if they can make you do things like that," Jo said.

Angie nodded in agreement as she picked up her glass again. "You know, I never would've expected the two of us sitting here, talking civilly."

Jo laughed. "I know." She picked up her glass as well, and raised it up in the air. "To Dean," she said.

Angie smiled and raised her glass to meet Jo's. "To Dean," she agreed.

"The greatest guy _both_ of us ever loved," Jo laughed.

They brought their glasses together, drank, and set them back down on the table.

……………………………………

Angie left the bar a little while later with the unnecessary money that Ellen had given her for a room at the local motel. She had apologized that their current bar didn't have any extra rooms in back, reminiscing about the extra space there had been in the Roadhouse, a place Angie had heard stories of a thousand times.

Angie turned the radio up, having heard enough of Jo's bad jukebox choices to spend the whole night drowning them out. She couldn't lie- being able to reminisce with someone had been therapeutic- but it wasn't enough to get rid of the fact that Jo had no information. Angie now knew that she had no more options. Unless she though of something while she slept tonight, her search was over. And she desperately didn't want it to be over.

A/N: I know Jo isn't exactly everyone's favorite character. I don't like her much myself. But I thought of this situation randomly, and it stuck as part of the story. Obviously I know the Roadhouse is gone, I mention that in the chapter... for my purposes, the Harvelles opened another bar after that incident.

The next chapter is one of my favorites, so hang in for it!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Okay, well, it says in my profile that if I didn't update in three months to consider me dead. I'm still five days under three months. Haha. Anyway, I feel really REALLY bad about not updating in forever, but I got kind of tired of all the proofreading and making sure the chapters were as good as possible. I felt like if I took a break from it, it would be easier to catch mistakes and rewrite sentences, etc. Then I had this big dilemma about where to go for college, and by the time I settled that I had to study for finals, and on Tuesday, I graduated from high school. Yay me! But I am sorry for the people who were waiting for an update. Now maybe if just one of the 132 people who read the last chapter had sent in a review, I would've gotten an incentive to keep writing...

The song used in this chapter is "Who Wants To Live Forever" by Queen.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Angie scanned the walls slowly as she stood, not moving her feet one inch. She was somehow back in her bedroom again. And even though her house was the place she'd first started her search from, it felt closer to what she was looking for than anywhere else she'd stopped along the way. This place held what Angie feared would be the last remains of the happy, complete family that was now so agonizingly far out of reach. It was obvious to her that she was dreaming. The sleeping mind always seemed to have a way of projecting your innermost feelings, whether they were good or not. After all, three months of dead-end searching was enough to make anyone ready to give up hope. And even if she somehow did find Jake, Angie knew her journey would only be half over.

Dean could never be brought back. His death had been a glaring indicator, for everyone who knew Angie, of how much he had kept her together. For so many years she'd had him, and even when he was out of reach, there was still the comfort that if she really wanted to, she could find him and be back in his arms. She just wished she could do that now.

_There's no time for us_

_There's no place for us_

_What is this thing that builds our dreams_

_Yet slips away from us?_

Dean and Angie had stuck together through things that some people would never imagine- helping each other over obstacles, and emerging from them even stronger… as long as they'd had each other, that is. But now Angie was all alone, still praying every day that she could find some way to keep moving through all the time spent without her soulmate.

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Who wants to live forever?_

Suddenly, an icy chill washed over her, as if something from her past had somehow found its way into this room too.

Angie turned around, and that's when she saw him. The longing in Dean's gaze mirrored what she felt in her own heart. She gasped at the sight. Unbelievably, he was just standing there. Though from his expression, it was clear that Angie was the only thing in the room that he cared about.

"Dean," Angie finally managed to say.

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but no sound seemed to come out.

"I can't hear you," Angie said. It was obvious from the movement of his lips that he'd said, 'Angie,' but she still wanted to hear his voice.

Dean tried again, but once more, nothing was heard.

Angie's heart instantly fell as she watched Dean try to continue on with his sentence, creating more inaudible words that she wished she could somehow reach out and grab.

"It's no use," she said sadly, sitting down on her bed. "I'd forgotten how annoying dreams can be." In fact, Angie found it rather cruel that in the one dream involving Dean that she'd had since he was alive, she couldn't decipher one word from his mouth. At this point, it seemed just her sort of luck.

_There's no chance for us_

_It's all decided for us_

_This world has only one sweet moment_

_Set aside for us_

Dean was looking around the room now, but not nostalgically like Angie was. He was trying to find something. Angie remembered the vast reorganization she'd given this room after Dean's death, in an effort to keep herself occupied. Now she tried to recall what had been where when he was alive. As she watched which drawers he was skimming through, she realized what he was looking for.

"I don't think there's any paper in here," Angie said. The look on Dean's face showed that all but every hope he had of conveying a message to his wife had vanished. He would've gone to another room to search, but he was afraid that if he took his eyes off her, she would disappear. "I'm sorry," Angie apologized.

She looked down at the carpet after she'd uttered those two words, obviously trying to suppress the impulse to cry. She too wished Dean had been able to find some sort of way to talk to her. After missing him for so long, his words would certainly be a comfort, even if they were only in a dream. At least she was seeing him, Angie told herself.

But it wasn't enough. This was just some mute imagination form of Dean. Until he could speak, he was still lost to her.

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Who dares to love forever?_

_Oh, when love must die?_

Mute or not, Dean still had his intuition. It told him to comfort his wife, regardless of which of them was actually feeling the worst.

Dean sat down on the bed next to Angie and looked into her eyes. The action only reaffirmed her feelings. They were both there, but not really together. All this was was some cruel reverie, offering an ephemeral relief from the stress she was facing in the real world.

Slowly, Dean reached out to stroke her hair. Angie shivered, completely caught off guard by the fact that she could actually feel his touch. It was too much for her, and tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Whatever you're trying to tell me…" Angie said. "It doesn't matter. All I know is that I love you and I miss you. And I hope I never wake up from this dream."

Dean kissed her, the only way he could hope to express that he loved and missed her just as much. Angie wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, hoping she could hold on to him forever.

_But touch my tears with your lips_

_Touch my world with your fingertips_

Angie found that she'd been wrong about not being able to communicate with Dean. In this moment, words didn't matter anymore.

_And we can have forever_

_And we can love forever_

_Forever is ours today…_

Then suddenly, Angie felt him slipping away from her. Even though she knew that she was really just fast asleep in a motel room, losing Dean for a second time was somehow almost as painful as the first. As his figure became more and more transparent, Angie wondered if she'd ever see him again.

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Forever is ours today…  
Who waits forever, anyway?_

Just before he vanished completely, something audible emerged from his mouth: "Weslan Facility."

Angie of course had no idea what that meant, and also had wished that Dean's parting words could have been more romantic, but she didn't respond as his presence slowly eroded into nothing.

And just like that she woke up in the empty motel room, as if nothing had ever happened at all.

…………………………………

"Dad?" Jake whispered, sensing his father's movement.

Dean opened his eyes. "What is it, Jake?"

"You were talking in your sleep."

"Was I? Sorry, buddy," Dean apologized.

"It sounded like you were talking to Mommy," Jake informed.

Dean blinked and looked down at the tiny chunk of mineral stone in his hand. "I think I was."

A/N: I think I'll upload the next chapter right now, since I feel so guilty about my 'hiatus.' I know it seems kind of strange right now, but I promise it'll all be explained. Soon!


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: This is my second update of the day, so if you've been directed here from a story alert, make sure you've read the previous chapter before this one.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Angie couldn't help it- no matter how many times she'd tried to tell herself that it had just been a dream, she still felt that what she'd experienced last night was not ordinary. There was something more to it… After contemplating for a few hours whether to forget about it or not, she decided to ask the person who had more experience with abnormal dreams than anyone else she knew.

As she knocked on the door, her only hope was that they wouldn't try to coax her into staying.

Sarah was the one who answered. "Angie, hi!"

"Hey, Sarah," Angie replied.

"It's great to see you!" Sarah said as she pulled her sister-in-law into a hug. "We haven't heard from you in a while…"

"Yeah, I know. It's been stressful," Angie explained.

"So, what made you decide to come by?" Sarah asked.

"Actually, there's something I have to ask Sam," Angie admitted.

"Oh, okay. Come in, I'll find him."

Angie stepped in through the doorway as Sarah went off down the hall. It wasn't long before her husband returned.

"Angie… I didn't really expect to see you here…" Sam began. He cut his train of thought short when he noticed the curious look on Angie's face. Her mind obviously wasn't on greetings. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just… feel kinda weird," Angie admitted.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I had a dream last night. A very… real dream," Angie began. "I saw Dean."

"Oh," Sam said. "Have you ever dreamt about him before?"

"No, not since before he died," Angie answered. "So I was kinda happy, y'know? To see him again, even if it wasn't real." Angie shook her head. "But then… he tried to talk to me, and I couldn't hear him. I know dreams are supposed to have meanings, but what the hell is that symbolic of, besides extreme disappointment? And then I tried to analyze it more… like, what if he had something to tell me before he died, but he never got the chance?"

Sam sighed. "If he did, how would you know about it? All dreams come from things in your mind."

"Not your dreams," Angie reminded.

Sam paused. "A _demon_ gave me that ability, Angie. He had to make sure my mind was more open than a normal person's because he wanted to be able to control it," he explained. "He'd been destroying my life since I was a baby. You would know if you had dreams like mine."

"I… I'm sorry, Sam," Angie said, noticing how sensitive he was about his unwanted premonitions.

"So, where were you?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject. "When you had this dream?"

"Motel room, somewhere in Colorado," Angie answered.

"You drove all the way back here from Colorado just to talk about a dream you had?" Sam asked.

"Well… I wondered what if, y'know?"

"Angie, if you're getting stressed over something this small, maybe it's a sign you've been out on the road too long," Sam suggested.

"No," Angie replied determinedly.

"Fine then," Sam said, deciding not to argue with her. "Just remember that it's not Dean you're looking for."

"I know," Angie nodded. "But he was trying to tell me something," she said with conviction. "It might not have been like your dreams, but it wasn't just something random. There was a message to it."

"Well Angie, I don't know what to tell you," Sam said.

Angie looked around the room and spied a computer in the corner. "Can I use this?" she asked, already walking over to it.

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" Sam answered, wondering what she was doing.

She sat down and immediately searched for "Weslan Facility."

"Weslan facility?" Sam asked, puzzled. "What's that?"

"No idea, but it's what Dean told me," Angie answered.

After a few minutes, she came across an article that seemed like it might be something. She clicked on it and began to read, saying every few lines aloud as she skimmed along. "Located in ghost town in southern Nevada… original owner Edward Weslan… factory officially closed down along with the rest of the area buisnesses during the Great Depression… has remained abandoned and in disrepair for ages, after many unsuccessful attempts by Weslan's family to sell the building… It remains in their possession today, the rightful owner being Edward's great-grandaughter-" Angie paused as she got to the name, almost unable to speak. She couldn't believe what she'd just come across. "-Fay Caldwell." Angie looked at Sam, whose eyes had also widened. "What was Fay's last name?" she breathed.

"I don't know," Sam shook his head.

Angie was ecstatic. Besides what various prisoners had told them, they knew nothing about the Advocates' estranged leader. And it would've been pointless to type "Fay" into a search engine, because there was obviously no way that that could turn out any relevant results. Now however, Angie's fingers flew as she entered 'Fay Caldwell' in the search bar.

The results made her heart leap even more. All of them were newspaper excerpts. They were decades old, but they all revolved around a troubled teenager, Fay Caldwell, or her cult-member parents, and all of the satanic practices they had been found engaging in during police raids. It was obvious that Fay had been arrested more than once, and had since become very good at avoiding authorities.

"Sam…" Angie began, "I think we found something."

A/N: Since I live in the Northeast where you can go across like 4 states in one day, I don't know if it's possible to get from Colorado to California in the same amount of time, but I really don't feel like rewording any of this chapter, so just go with it. lol.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Agh!! FanFiction decided after all this time to not like my story anymore. It refused to upload it, so I had to copy and paste and then save as a whole new document for this to finally work. Sorry for the wait.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Sam walked into the kitchen to inform Sarah of the latest news.

"Hey, we're pretty sure we just got a breakthrough on where Jake is," he announced.

Sarah stopped what she was doing instantly. Of course, she had always hoped that her nephew would be found, but a sudden clue after three months was still surprising. Especially one that had been discovered in their own home. "Really?" she asked, "How?"

Sam paused before answering. "Angie got a message from Dean," he said.

"From Dean? Is that possible?" Sarah asked. Being a Winchester, she was familiar with ghosts and the like, but this was something she hadn't heard before.

"I don't really know. I didn't believe it at first, but we did some research, and what he… told her… actually panned out," Sam said. He could see that Sarah's mind was now swimming. "Honestly, I'm gonna worry about figuring it out later," he added. "Right now we need to go see what's in the place we just learned about."

"Where is it?" Sarah asked.

"Southwest part of Nevada somewhere. Fay owns it, so it's probably home to something involving the Advocates," Sam answered. "We're probably gonna be gone for a while," he admitted.

"Sam, could Jake really be there?" she asked, hopeful.

"It's possible," Sam said. "When you compare it to everywhere else we've looked, it's actually the best shot."

"Well, be careful," Sarah advised. "You don't know who else could be there with him."

Sam nodded. "We're gonna check what we've got in the car, to make sure we're prepared."

Sarah kissed him. "Good luck. I hope you find him."

"I do too."

--

Angie took a deep breath as Sam placed the last weapon back into the Impala. She knew that almost anything could be awaiting them at this Weslan place, and she had to remain as calm as possible. If she ended up fighting Advocates before the day's end, she couldn't be all nerves with a gun in her hand. She knew that it could also be another dead end, so she had to make sure she wasn't getting her hopes too high in case their search turned up nothing. But she couldn't help it. It was unquestionable to her that this was the closest she had gotten to finding Jake since her search began. Her mind was racing. Would he be there? Was he alright? Was he alive, even? She hated that thought, but it was a hard one to shake. Her dream also puzzled her. Was it really a message from Dean that was guiding them to an abandoned warehouse right now? It had all seemed so real…

She glanced over at Sam, wondering if his mind was as jumbled as hers. However, she knew it was best to not bring it up, and instead focus on the task at hand.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

Angie's stomach churned with anticipation. "Yeah," she nodded.

--

After hours of driving, Sam and Angie had finally come upon the small Nevada ghost town that held the building they were looking for. Although they had passed through a few bustling neighborhoods on the way, this area was completely empty. Some graffiti marked where neighborhood kids had hung around, but it was obvious that eventually even they had gotten bored with the place. Angie couldn't help but wonder if the Advocates' connection to the area had somehow helped to keep it empty.

Suddenly, the half-faded sign for the Weslan Facility rolled into view. Angie held her breath as they drove closer to it. She looked desperately for some kind of clue to what was inside, but the front was totally windowless.

"I can't tell if anyone's in there," she said.

"Well if they are, they're probably not going to like the sight of this car too much," Sam said. He turned off the road and into an alley that would hide the Impala from view.

"So what's first?" Angie asked.

"Figuring out if there's enemies inside, and how to avoid them," Sam said, getting out of the car. He peered toward the imposing old warehouse as Angie opened the Impala's trunk and began to gather munitions.

"See anything?" she asked.

Sam shook his head. "Well actually, there's some large windows over there, but they're so far down on the end that I can't tell what's in there anyway."

Angie walked over and handed him an assortment of weapons. "Why would they leave the windows uncovered?" she wondered. "I think they'd want to hide whatever they're doing inside..."

Sam shrugged. "The windows are probably too big," he suggested. "It's easier to not work near them than to spend a ton of time covering them. The building's big enough that they could probably just stay in a different area."

"And that means there wouldn't be many people guarding an empty section," Angie inferred.

Sam nodded. "Let's go."

With guns ready, they slowly made their way around the building. When they reached the windows, a glance inside revealed nothing but empty, dusty offices. Angie began to wonder if anyone really was here, or if this was just another dead end like back at the cave. Finally they rounded the edge of the building and came upon a locked entrance.

"Got a paperclip?" Angie asked.

Sam took one out of his pocket. "Winchester family rule," he said.

After toggling with the lock for a while, the door was finally freed. Sam opened it slightly and peered inside.

"No one," he whispered, opening the door the rest of the way. "But be quiet. Anyone could be anywhere."

Angie nodded. Including Jake, she thought.

Slowly they walked inside, careful to make as little noise as possible. Unfortunately, dark magic meant that sound wasn't necessary to alert the Advocates.

Fay closed her eyes suddenly, cutting off her lecture to some of her followers in mid-sentence.

"What is it, Fay?" one of them asked. She had always boasted of her gift of communication with the devil, and by now, all of them could recognize when it was happening.

"Get everyone together, and get weapons. Prepare to strike," Fay ordered. "The Winchesters are in the building."

A/N: Hehe, I now present part one of my "two chapters with cliffhangers." More soon! And for the love of god, would someone please review this time? I have a hit monitor, so I know people are reading this... and I accept anonymous reviews! You don't even have to say a lot. Just "I like it" is fine!


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: A very special thanks to sandra for reviewing the last chapter!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

After walking down some narrow hallways lined with empty old offices, Angie and Sam had come to the warehouse's main storage room, which still contained boxes and equipment piled wall-to-wall. Suddenly, they heard a sound like footsteps. Both of them turned quickly, checking all directions for movement.

"Where'd that come from?" Sam whispered after they'd both seen nothing. He was soon answered by the sound of about six guns being cocked. They looked up to see a row of Advocates on a second-story walkway, all aiming at them.

"Move!" Sam shouted, knowing that being quiet wasn't going to hide them any longer. They ducked behind a row of crates just as the Advocates opened fire. At least the clutter in the building was working to their advantage.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place!" Angie commented. "Now what?"

"Just don't let them get the upper hand," Sam said. "If we're captured, we might not be able to get away."

"Alright, so we fight," Angie said. "If we both fire one at a time and then duck back behind here, we might be able to take them out." Before Sam could agree or disagree, Angie dove out and took her first shot, knocking an Advocate straight off the balcony.

"Woah," Sam commented.

"I've been doing target practice whenever I'm bored," Angie explained. "Your turn."

The two Winchesters were able to overcome all six of the Advocates without a major struggle, as it seemed like their enemies didn't exactly make for the best marksmen. However, Sam and Angie only walked a short distance further before they came upon a second crop of Advocates and had to start firing all over again.

--

"What's going on, Dad?" Jake yelled, covering his ears to lessen the noise of the gunshots.

"I don't know," Dean said, trying desperately to see down past the corridor where they were being held. His hopes were higher now than they'd ever been- it sounded like a war out there, and for that to happen, the Advocates had to be fighting someone.

"Are Mom and Uncle Sam here?" Jake asked.

"Maybe, Jake," Dean answered. "Maybe."

He watched as Fay came running down past the row of cells. "You idiot, how are you letting this happen!?" she demanded as she approached the organizer of the defense forces. "We clearly have a huge size advantage, and yet our people are still being picked off one by one!"

"We're fighting with everything we've got, Fay," the man answered. "But to be honest, we've never prepared for this sort of warfare before."

Fay scowled. "That shouldn't matter when there are TWENTY of us and only TWO of them!" she shouted.

The Advocate was at a complete loss for words now. "Well… perhaps they're just lucky?" He knew from the second the words escaped his mouth that it had been the wrong thing to say.

"Lucky?" Fay asked through clenched teeth. "That's your excuse as to why your flimsy, worthless band of idiots is failing?" The Advocate stood speechless and trembling. "If there was any time, I'd kill you," Fay said. "But due to this lovely situation you've gotten us all in, I'm sure you'll get killed soon enough!"

She heard the gunshots drawing closer. "As for me, I won't give them the satisfaction."

The Advocate's fear had now grown even greater at her statement. "But Fay, you're not going to… kill yourself, are you?"

Dean was listening even more intently now. He wanted that bitch gone more than anything.

"That depends," Fay said. "Has the bomb been finished yet?"

The Advocate struggled to form sentences as his jaw dropped. "You're going to blow us up!?" he said in disbelief. "But that bomb's for the sacrifice!"

"Well, thanks to you, I don't think that's going to happen any time soon!" Fay reminded. "It's the end of the road, Clark. We either lose and get killed, or we die honorably for the cause… and take everyone else with us." She ran for the second floor, leaving Clark a trembling mess. He decided to run, too… towards the exit.

"Quick, Jake, get over here," Dean said as Clark ran by. He moved the bed away from the cell's farthest corner.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"There's no time, just come here!" Dean ordered. Jake obeyed, curling up into the corner. "Sit tight in there, okay?" Dean instructed. He turned the cot on its side and moved it back into place, turning it into a barrier. "Put your hands on top of your head," Dean said as he sat down in the same corner, shielding his son as best as possible. "I'm gonna do the same thing, see?" he said, putting his hands over his own head. "And you might want to cover your ears," he advised.

"I'm scared, Daddy," Jake said.

"I know buddy, I know. It's okay," Dean reassured. "It'll be like a James Bond movie."

--

"Sam, look!" Angie said, pointing to the woman running up a flight of stairs in the distance. "Is that her?" she asked.

"Definitely," Sam answered. "Let's go."

They dashed for the stairs, chasing Fay to wherever she was running to. As they reached the second floor, they caught a glimpse of her running through a doorway down the hall. They paused for a moment before following.

"Okay, be careful," Sam advised. "Who knows, we might only have one chance to take her out."

Angie nodded. Cautiously they walked towards the room Fay had run into. As they got closer, they could hear a voice chanting in Latin. Angie prayed that she wasn't sacrificing anyone. As they arrived at the door, she was somewhat relieved to see only the woman inside, with her back towards them. They were staring at a murdered, and appeared to have caught her off-guard.

"Don't move!" Sam ordered, aiming his gun at Fay's head.

She didn't even have to turn around to know who was standing there, ready to strike. "Ah, the Winchesters," Fay smirked. "Come to save your family, I see." As a ticking noise began to fill the room, she stood aside to reveal the bomb she had been standing in front of. "What's left of it, anyway," she chided.

At this point Angie and Sam knew they were beyond negotiation. "Run!" Sam shouted. They bolted back towards the end of the hall. Frantic, they had no idea how far away they'd managed to run as the explosion erupted. They just hoped it was far enough as the force lifted them off their feet, sending Angie against a wall and Sam careening into a railing.

A/N: There are only a few chapters left before the end, so please review!!


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Oh my gosh, all of a sudden people are reviewing again!! Thanks so, SO much to HYPERLITE.HO, sal, and Celtergirl... special awards for the last two, sal for reading from the very beginning all the way through, and Celtergirl for the amazing feat of reading the entire triology!! Thank you all for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated!

And now... the chapter that you all have been waiting for!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Both Sam and Angie remained motionless until the heat from the blast began to dissipate. Before they could get up, the second floor balcony cracked, split, and fell, becoming a slide that sent them tumbling down into a pile of debris below. Angie made the first sound, groaning as she sat up and inspected the sizable gash that had cut up her arm.

"Sam, you okay?" she coughed through the smoke.

"Yeah," he wheezed, still lying down. Angie walked over and helped him up. "Think I might've broken a rib," he said, holding his side.

"At least it's not worse," Angie reminded, looking up at the huge gap in the building where Fay had detonated the bomb. "She killed herself so she wouldn't have to face us," Angie realized. "The coward."

"She was chanting before she did it," Sam remembered. "You don't think she-"

"Sacrificed herself?" Angie finished. "Probably tried to. But it didn't accomplish anything, or we'd already be swamped with hellspawn by now."

"Good," Sam sighed, glad they hadn't been given another obstacle to get through.

People that had survived the blast began to emerge and run for exits. Most of them were Advocates, but some of them were probably prisoners, getting a chance at freedom for the first time. "How long do you think it'll take the nearest police to respond to this?" Angie asked.

"Not very," Sam said as he took out his cell phone. "I'll deal with it."

Angie looked around in amazement as Sam called the police. She couldn't believe that after all this time, the threat was over. In one quick flash, no one would ever be hurt by the Devil's Advocates again. The only thing left to do now was find her son.

"Jake?" she shouted. When there was no response, she started to search, climbing through the rubble.

Sam hung up his phone. "I'll look over here," he said, going off in another direction.

"JAKE?" Angie yelled even louder. "Please be here," she whispered desperately.

Suddenly, she heard movement. Her stomach dropped as she turned to see an arm reaching out from a cell to climb over a piece of rubble. Angie felt tears begin to form in her eyes as she saw her son stand up and run towards her.

"Mommy!" Jake said, smiling widely as he reached out his arms. Angie felt three months of stress and worry lift away as he hugged her. "I knew you'd look for me," he said.

"Of course I did, sweetie," Angie sniffled, holding him tight. "I just wish I could've found you sooner."

Dean's heart warmed as he listened to the conversation between the two voices he held the dearest. However, he knew he couldn't walk out as simply as Jake had done- Sam and Angie didn't know he was alive, so in order to not startle them, he'd have to approach delicately. Slowly he peeked out from the cell, and smiled. Her face was covered in soot, bruises, and scrapes, but it was still his Angie.

"Sam, he's here!" Angie shouted. Soon they heard the sound of feet and hands clamoring through the debris.

"Uncle Sam!" Jake said excitedly as his uncle returned to the area. He rushed up to hug him as well.

"Hey!" Sam said with a smile. "You have no idea how much we missed you, kiddo."

Angie wiped her eyes as she looked over at Sam. "It's a miracle," she whispered to him.

Sam nodded and looked back down at his nephew. "You know, Jake, you're really lucky that explosion didn't hurt you," Sam said, noticing that the boy was absent of any cuts or bruises.

"That's because we were hiding," Jake said.

"We?" Angie asked. "Who's we?" However, Jake wasn't the one to answer her.

"Hey Angie," Dean said.

Her eyes widened at the voice. She turned around, and instantly froze as she saw him. In a state of total disbelief, she could do nothing but stare.

"It's okay," Dean reassured, looking into her eyes.

"Oh my God," she finally managed to say. She turned around to make sure the other Winchesters were seeing the same thing she was. Sam bore a wide-eyed expression identical to hers, and Jake smiled as if he was trying not to shout 'Surprise!'

Angie slowly walked towards Dean, holding out a shaky hand when she got close to him. Half of her was still thinking that the events of the day had caused her to hallucinate this entire situation. But her hand felt his cheek, and fresh tears began to fall.

"Dean!" she said as they embraced. "You're really here."

"Yeah," Dean said, also starting to tear up. "On certain days I couldn't believe it either."

Angie wiped her eyes as the realization swept over her. She had given up the hope of finding her husband too soon. "I thought you were dead," she admitted. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't blame yourself," Dean reassured. "When we were in that church, they pulled me out of there the second I got knocked out. No one could've known. I'm just glad I'm seeing you again."

"Me too," Angie said, sniffling. "I love you."

"Dad, you're crying," Jake said before Dean could answer.

"That's because I love your mom," Dean explained. "You'll understand it someday."

Angie smiled and turned back to her husband. "Coming in here we say we're prepared for anything, but no one thought to bring tissues," she said, reaching up to wipe his eyes. "I really can't believe this is happening. It's the happiest day of my life."

Dean smiled. "Come here," he said, pulling her into a long-overdue kiss. "I love you. And you have no idea how much I've missed you in here. Both of us have," he said, looking over at Jake.

"I broke your promise," Angie remembered. "I said I'd take care of Jake, and I let him get kidnapped and locked in here for months."

"That's not your fault, Angie. The Advocates had friggin' Satan on their side," Dean said. "Besides, you've probably been out looking for Jake since the day he disappeared, right?"

"Yeah," Angie nodded.

"Now how many kids out there have moms with that kind of dedication?" Dean pointed out. "You hear that?" he said, looking over at Jake. "You better get your mom something nice for Mother's Day this year, none of that 'Free Hug Coupon' stuff. Got it?"

"Yeah…" Jake said. He ran back over to hug his mom again.

Dean looked over at his brother. "Hey Sammy," he said, walking towards him. "Sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you there."

"It's okay, I get it," Sam smiled. He winced as Dean hugged him. "Easy, I got kinda beat up in that explosion."

"Oh, so you've gone soft since I left," Dean smirked.

"Ha ha," Sam said, rolling his eyes. Still, he was kind of happy to hear his brother's familiar teases again. "It's good to have you back, Dean."

"It's good to be back," Dean nodded.

"Cliché…" Angie muttered.

Dean looked back over at her. "What, we haven't seen each other in over a year and you're gonna start that up five minutes in?"

Angie shrugged. "Wouldn't be the same if I didn't, now would it?" she smiled.

Just then, the familiar wail of police sirens sounded as they approached the building.

"What do we tell them?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Honestly, I just wanna be outside."

Sam looked over at Angie. "Does it really matter?" she said. "Whatever we tell them, they're gonna think of us as heroes. Just leave out the supernatural stuff." Everyone, including Jake, looked at her, their eyes showing disbelief in that possibility. "Well, we'll figure it out," she reassured. "C'mon."

A/N: Yeah, I could end it here... almost. There's still a few loose ends to tie up. Two chapters remain!


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: A special welcome back to long-time reviwer Mediatorsk! (And a thank-you to FFN for finally sending her story alerts again!)

Okay, so after some thought, I decided to combine the last two chapters into one, since the main action of the story is already over and you guys probably wouldn't want it dragging on forever if only a little is happening. :P Sorry if you were looking forward to another chapter.

The song is "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

After hours of examinations by medical personnel and nonstop interviews from newscasters, the various people on the scene finally ran out of reasons to bother Angie. She spotted Dean sitting on the back of an ambulance and walked over to him.

"All alone over here?" she asked as she sat down next to him.

"I wish," Dean scoffed. "They only just went away five minutes ago. Now I know why I never took credit for anything I hunted."

Angie smirked. "Well at least you're not 'world's most heroic woman,'" she said, mocking the story some of the reporters had given her. "Tragically becomes a widow during a hostage situation, then, even worse, loses her son… but, decides not to give up and finds both of them alive and well, in addition to several other prisoners, and helps to put all criminals involved behind bars." She smiled when she finished re-telling what she'd heard for the past three hours, but Dean didn't. Instead he was looking at her with a kind of sorrow.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through," he said.

Angie shook her head. "It's nothing compared to you-"

"Angie, stop playing who-has-the-saddest-story. You suffered," Dean reminded. "I did too, but that doesn't mean I can't apologize for what happened." He hugged her. "I'm proud of you, for not giving up."

"Thanks, Dean," Angie replied. Before she could say anything else, cameras began to snap photos of their embrace. "Hey, enough! What, did you have the lens cap on for the _first_ five hundred pictures?" The reporters slowly started to back away.

They heard in laughing the distance, and turned to see Jake pointing at them.

"Hey Sam, tell him to cut it out, will ya?" Dean yelled over to his brother, who was standing by Jake but doing nothing but smirking at the boy's taunts.

"Who cares? Let him laugh," Angie smiled. Dean nodded, agreeing with her. "Hey, I forgot to tell you…" Angie started. "I had dream last night."

"Let me guess," Dean said. "We were both in our bedroom, I couldn't talk, but before you woke up I managed to tell you where Jake and I were?"

"Right…" Angie said, totally perplexed.

"At one point Fay was holding us all in a cave," Dean began to explain.

"Yeah, I know, Sam and I looked there," Angie commented.

"Well then you know how miserable it was," Dean replied. "But, it did give me this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mineral stone.

"What is it?" Angie asked.

"I can't remember the name, but I knew when I saw it that it was one of those 'mystical'-type materials. You know, the ones people use in rituals and everything." Angie nodded. "I thought, maybe if it works, I could figure out how to use it to astral project myself to you."

"Really?" Angie asked intently, having never heard this type of possibility before.

"Really," Dean nodded. "Well, sort of. I had no idea what I was doing. It took me months before I got far enough to cross paths with your dream… which I guess is like halfway there."

"Halfway there without your voice," Angie reminded.

"Hey, it's hard work," Dean said. "Are you happy I told you where we were or not?"

"I am," Angie said, kissing him. "I'd probably never believe that in a million years if someone else told me, but I guess anything's possible."

Sam and Jake walked over to meet them. As soon as Jake got close, he ran up and hugged his mom.

"What's wrong?" Angie asked.

"They want to bring us to the hospital for the night," Sam explained. "Me to get X-Rays, him to make sure he's not dehydrated or anything from being kept in there."

"I don't wanna go!" Jake protested.

"It's okay, Jake. Nothing bad's gonna happen," Angie reassured.

"They might give me shots," Jake reminded.

"Well I'm going too, so I'll make sure they don't give you any," Dean promised.

"You are?" Angie asked, having not been told this detail.

"Yeah well, I've been locked up longer than he has, so I'll probably be worse," Dean said. "I'm just sitting here waiting for them to take me so I can be locked up some more."

Angie put her arm around him. "Sorry," she said sympathetically. "On the bright side, they probably won't hold you that long."

"Plus, we've probably still got a little while before they take us," Sam explained. "They're waiting until they've finished searching the warehouse, in case there's someone in there that has to be rushed down."

"I want you to go with me, Mom," Jake said nervously.

"I'm sorry Jake, but I have to drive the car there or it'll get towed," Angie explained. "But, you'll have Daddy and uncle Sam with you, and I'll be following you guys the whole way," she reassured.

"Okay…" Jake said. He turned to Dean. "Just don't let them give me any shots!"

Dean laughed. "I won't."

A paramedic walked over to them. "You all ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"Okay, I'll meet you guys there," Angie said. She pried a nervous Jake off of her, who immediately switched to clinging to Dean. Angie smiled. "Love you," she said as she turned to head towards the Impala.

--

Angie smiled as she looked in through the window to Dean's room and saw him hungrily devouring the tray full of food in front of him.

"Enjoying that?" she asked as she opened the door.

"God yes," Dean said, his mouth still somewhat full. "They say hospital food is bad, but it's gourmet compared to a year and a half of frickin' saltines and occasional leftovers."

Angie sighed. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Dean. I shouldn't have given up so soon."

"It's alright," Dean said. "Honestly, I'd rather have seen you and Jake getting on with your lives than you out on the road since the day they took me. He needed at least one parent there for him."

"I know," Angie said, nodding but still regretful.

"I'd put my arm around you, but they've kind of got me tied up here," Dean said.

"They do not!" Angie laughed.

"Well, it feels like it, with all these things I'm hooked up to," Dean said.

"It's just an IV and a blood oxygen monitor," Angie said. "It's not like you're on a respirator or anything."

"Well I'm sorry, I don't like hospitals," Dean said.

"You and Jake both," Angie said. "He's mad that you let them give him a shot."

"I didn't exactly _let_ them," Dean pointed out. "I just didn't know. I'm in a completely different ward."

"I know. He was gonna have to get it some time anyway," Angie said. "But still expect him to try and bribe you to take him for ice cream on the way home."

Dean smiled. "Any idea when that is, by the way?"

"I talked to the doctor, and he said they're still waiting on a few test results, but he feels confident that it'll all come out fine and you'll both be released later today."

"Thank God," Dean said. "I swear I'm starting to forget what our house looks like."

Angie gave a sympathetic smile as the door to Dean's room opened again.

"Dean, oh my God!" Sarah said as she rushed over and hugged him. "When Sam called me I couldn't believe it. You're actually here. This is amazing!" she said over-exitedly.

"It's good to see you too, Sarah," Dean said when she finally let him go. He looked down at her now noticeably-pregnant stomach. "_All_ of you…"

"Oh," Sarah said, smiling. "I guess Sam didn't mention yet that you're going to be an uncle."

"No, he didn't," Dean said, surprised. "Actually, I haven't seen him since last night."

"Well, he should be here soon," Sarah said. "They're just finishing bandaging him up. He actually broke _two_ ribs."

Dean winced in sympathy. "Well, he'll get to take it easy for a while then," he said. "Anyway, I'll tell you both congratulations when he gets in here. Boy or girl?"

"Oh, we don't know," Sarah said. "We want it to be a surprise."

"Well, if it's a boy, you could always name him Dean," Dean smirked. "You know, as a tribute."

"Thanks, but now that you're alive, I think John is reserved as the boy name," Sarah said with a smile.

"Oh come on, that would've been Jake's middle name if it didn't sound like a nursery rhyme!" Dean said. "You can't take it because of a technicality."

Just then, Sam walked into the room.

"Hey Sammy," Dean said. "You're not allowed to name your kid John."

"I thought you were going to tell him congratulations!" Sarah reminded.

"I will…" Dean said. "I just had to get the point across first."

Angie rolled her eyes. "I should go check on Jake," she said, heading towards the door.

"Oh, I haven't even seen him yet!" Sarah said, following Angie down the hall.

Sam smiled as they left. "So why exactly can't I name my kid after dad?"

"Because I had it first," Dean said. Sam looked at him incredulously. "Nevermind," he shrugged, giving up.

"They gonna let you out of here soon?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Dean nodded. He and Sam were silent for a minute. "Hey… thanks for looking after them for me," Dean said.

Sam shrugged. "It was nothing," he said. "You've looked after me your whole life… I had to return the favor somehow."

"Well, it means a lot to me," Dean admitted. "You're a good brother."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, Dean."

"And it looks like I'm not going to be looking after you much longer," he observed. "'Cause you're gonna be a great father."

--

"Ah, there she is!" Dean smiled as they walked up to the Impala. "Just as beautiful as I remember."

Angie rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that she'd somewhat missed Dean's car love.

"It's a car…" Jake said.

Dean turned around and stared at Angie. "You didn't explain the greatness of a 1967 Chevy Impala to our son?"

Angie shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't see how anyone besides you could effectively convey that."

Dean smirked. "Well, that _is _true. Alright, everybody in. I can't wait to drive this thing home."

"Home!" Jake said excitedly as he climbed into the backseat.

Angie smiled as Dean started up the car, amazed at how quickly everything had fallen back into place. They pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive.

"Hey, what's…?" Dean started as he noticed the VCR tape sticking out from under the seat. He picked it up and read the label. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked Angie.

"Sam thought it would make me smile," she explained.

"Well, it's about to make me smile," Dean said as he rolled down the window and chucked the tape out. "Sweet revenge!"

"What was it, Dad?" Jake asked.

"Nothing, Jake," Dean said, still grinning over his final victory over his most embarrassing moment. He turned to Angie. "We never speak of that again."

"Okay," Angie laughed.

"Good," Dean said. "Now, we need some tunes." He turned on the radio and instantly found the classic rock station.

Although the purr of the engine was something Angie had heard just yesterday, it was different with Dean driving. It, along with the song on the radio, told her that from this point on, her worries were over.

_Here comes the sun_

_Here comes the sun, I say_

_It's alright…_

_Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces_

_Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here_

_Here comes the sun_

_Here comes the sun, I say_

_It's alright_

THE END

A/N: And there you have it! I hope it's a worthy ending to all of this... kind of hard to concentrate on writing a story when your mom is watching the Cosby Show in the background. And I kept trying to figure out a way to state this in the story, but never could: Sam and Angie didn't give themselves away as hunters during all of the news interviews... just concerned, loving family members on a mission. Because anything else would kinda ruin the show. :P

Anyway... yes, the trilogy has come to an end. But no, I can't just erase these characters from my head after thinking about them for this long. I have at least one Dean/Angie-centric one-shot planned, which should appear here soon, and after that, who knows. The possibilities are endless! And reviews are love! So, if you've been lurking for the entire story (or maybe even the entire trilogy), here's your last change to tell me what you think about it!


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